NDLI: Chief Election Commissioner of India Vs. M.r Vijayabhaskar & Ors.

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	Constitution of India
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3 Referred Case 4 Referred Case 5 Referred Case 6 Referred Case 7 Referred Case 8
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Appeal Disposed Off
Headnote	Constitution of India: Arts. 32, 226, 19(1)(a), 19(2) – Freedom of the media to report court proceedings – High Court made certain oral remarks attributing responsibility to the Election Commission-EC for the present surge in the number of cases of COVID-19, due to their failure to implement COVID-19 related protocol during the elections – Oral remarks were ‘EC is singularly responsible for the second wave of Covid-19 and that the EC should be put up for murder charges” – Said remarks though not part of order of the High Court, were reported in print, electronic and tele media – EC seeking a direction to restrain the media from reporting on court proceedings; and that the oral remarks are baseless and tarnishing the image of EC as an independent constitutional authority – On appeal, held: Language is an important instrument of a judicial process which is sensitive to constitutional values – High Court was faced with a situation of rising cases of COVID-19 and, as a constitutional Court, was entrusted with protecting the life and liberty of citizens – Remarks of the High Court were harsh, it did not seek to attribute culpability for the COVID-19 pandemic in the country to the EC – Instead it intended to urge the EC to ensure stricter compliance of COVID-19 related protocols during elections – More so, oral observations do not constitute a part of the official judicial record – Thus, there is no substance in the prayer of the EC for restraining the media from reporting on court proceedings. Arts. 19(1)(a), 19(2) – Freedom of expression of the Media – Reporting the proceedings of judicial institutions – Importance of – Held: Constitution guarantees the media the freedom to inform, to distill and convey information on all matters of interest – Freedom of speech and expression extends to reporting the proceedings of judicial institutions as well – Courts are entrusted to perform crucial functions under law which has direct impact not only on the rights of citizens, but also the extent to which the citizens can exact accountability from the executive – Therein lies the importance of freedom of the media to comment on and write about proceedings – Furthermore, media has over the years, transitioned from the predominance of newspapers to internet for disseminating news, views and ideas to audiences beyond national boundaries – This, would also include information reported about the functioning of courts – Hence, it would do no good to prevent the new forms of media from reporting judicial proceedings.Judiciary: Open Courts – Concept of – Held: Concept of open court requires that information relating to a court proceeding must be available in the public domain – Open access to courts is essential to safeguard valuable constitutional freedoms – Courts must be open both in the physical and metaphorical sense, save and except for in-camera proceedings in an exceptional category of cases – Open court proceeding ensures that the judicial process is subject to public scrutiny – Public scrutiny is crucial to maintaining transparency and accountability – There are multiple ways in which an open court system contributes to the working of democracy. Judicial accountability – Public Discourse and Media Reporting – Held: Rights of the media to report and disseminate issues and events, including court proceedings are a part of the public domain – This is not merely an aspect of protecting the rights of individuals and entities on reporting, but also a part of the process of augmenting the integrity of the judiciary and the cause of justice as a whole. Judicial conduct – Freedom and constraints of – Held: Independence of the judiciary translates to being impartial, free from bias and uninfluenced by the actions of those in power, but also recognizes the freedom to judges to conduct court proceedings within the contours of the principles of natural justice – Judges in the performance of their duty must remain faithful to the oath of the office they hold, which requires them to bear allegiance to the Constitution – An independent judiciary must also be one which is accountable to the public in its actions and omissions. Judicial restraint and discipline – Exercise of – Held: Power of judges must not be unbridled and judicial restraint must be exercised, before using strong and scathing language to criticize any individual or institution – This Court must strike a balance between reproaching the High Courts or lower courts unnecessarily, so as to not hamper their independent functioning – This Court must also intervene where judges have overstepped the mark and breached the norms of judicial propriety..
Judge	Hon'ble Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
Neutral Citation	2021 INSC 286
Petitioner	Chief Election Commissioner Of India
Respondent	M.r Vijayabhaskar & Ors.
SCR	[2021] 5 S.C.R. 196
Judgement Date	2021-05-06
Case Number	1767

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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