The Supreme Court today disposed of the petition filed by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) seeking that the media room at the Kerala HC be opened..A Bench of Justices UU Lalit and AM Sapre took note of the submissions made by the intervenor, Kerala HC Advocates Association (KHCAA), that similar petitions with identical reliefs were pending in the Kerala High Court. A Full Bench of the High Court had referred the matter to a five-judge Bench..The Apex Court Bench concurred with this view and disposed of the petition, observing that no purpose will be served by keeping the petition pending in the Supreme Court..Advocate Haris Beeran appeared for intervenor KHCAA..The issue dates back to July 2016, when government pleader Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran was arrested for allegedly attempting to molest a woman. The news soon grabbed prime time headlines on Malayalam news channels, triggering outrage at the Bar..Things got out of hand after lawyers took matters into their own hands and reportedly beat up media persons inside the High Court premises. However, there are two versions of the same..The lawyers claimed that a media contingent along with some goondas marched to the High Court in protest. This led to stone pelting, in which an advocate was injured..The next day, the media room was expected to be locked on orders from the Registrar General. However, lawyers spotted a few scribes inside the room. They were asked to leave the room and they obliged. Lawyers then spotted some journalists capturing the episode on their cameras. Some of those were the same scribes who were involved in the violence, the previous evening. This irked the lawyers, leading to clashes in which a few media persons were at the receiving end..With no sign of the standoff between lawyers and journalists abating, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists then sent a missive to then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, asking him to direct that the media room at the Kerala High Court be opened..The matter then reached the Kerala HC, which formulated guidelines for reporting of High Court proceedings..Read the order below.
The Supreme Court today disposed of the petition filed by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) seeking that the media room at the Kerala HC be opened..A Bench of Justices UU Lalit and AM Sapre took note of the submissions made by the intervenor, Kerala HC Advocates Association (KHCAA), that similar petitions with identical reliefs were pending in the Kerala High Court. A Full Bench of the High Court had referred the matter to a five-judge Bench..The Apex Court Bench concurred with this view and disposed of the petition, observing that no purpose will be served by keeping the petition pending in the Supreme Court..Advocate Haris Beeran appeared for intervenor KHCAA..The issue dates back to July 2016, when government pleader Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran was arrested for allegedly attempting to molest a woman. The news soon grabbed prime time headlines on Malayalam news channels, triggering outrage at the Bar..Things got out of hand after lawyers took matters into their own hands and reportedly beat up media persons inside the High Court premises. However, there are two versions of the same..The lawyers claimed that a media contingent along with some goondas marched to the High Court in protest. This led to stone pelting, in which an advocate was injured..The next day, the media room was expected to be locked on orders from the Registrar General. However, lawyers spotted a few scribes inside the room. They were asked to leave the room and they obliged. Lawyers then spotted some journalists capturing the episode on their cameras. Some of those were the same scribes who were involved in the violence, the previous evening. This irked the lawyers, leading to clashes in which a few media persons were at the receiving end..With no sign of the standoff between lawyers and journalists abating, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists then sent a missive to then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, asking him to direct that the media room at the Kerala High Court be opened..The matter then reached the Kerala HC, which formulated guidelines for reporting of High Court proceedings..Read the order below.
