Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court on Friday made some strong observations on the freedom of press while ensuring that the fundamental right to privacy of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty is maintained..While hearing the defamation suit filed by Shetty seeking urgent relief, the Court made the following observations:.1. On importance of right to privacy of a public figure."It is possible that freedom of speech may have to be narrowly tailored. But it is not possible to ignore the constitutional pinning of privacy, nor to say that if a person is a public figure, that person is deemed to have sacrificed his/her right to privacy.".2. On Shetty's right to privacy.“None of this (the purported defamatory content published) should involve parenting of her children. That part is protected by her right of privacy under the wide protection recognised by the Supreme Court and freedom of press has to be balanced with the right to privacy.".3. On the prayers sought in Shetty's suit."The prayers sought for supervising editorial content of the various media houses is dangerous. What you are asking me to do can have a chilling effect on the freedom of press." .4. On courts censoring media content."Do you want the Court to go into every news report against your client? Is this a new law that a court is to supervise every newspaper content? There is a thin line. This at every level is pre-censorship." .5. On celebrities being in the public eye."What is defamatory about saying something about Shilpa Shetty? You choose a life in the public eye, part of this comes in the territory.".6. On reportage through sources."Whatever they (Mumbai Police Crime Branch) have told them, rightly or wrongly so, is not defamatory. A reportage on what the police source has said is by definition never defamatory!"
Justice Gautam Patel of the Bombay High Court on Friday made some strong observations on the freedom of press while ensuring that the fundamental right to privacy of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty is maintained..While hearing the defamation suit filed by Shetty seeking urgent relief, the Court made the following observations:.1. On importance of right to privacy of a public figure."It is possible that freedom of speech may have to be narrowly tailored. But it is not possible to ignore the constitutional pinning of privacy, nor to say that if a person is a public figure, that person is deemed to have sacrificed his/her right to privacy.".2. On Shetty's right to privacy.“None of this (the purported defamatory content published) should involve parenting of her children. That part is protected by her right of privacy under the wide protection recognised by the Supreme Court and freedom of press has to be balanced with the right to privacy.".3. On the prayers sought in Shetty's suit."The prayers sought for supervising editorial content of the various media houses is dangerous. What you are asking me to do can have a chilling effect on the freedom of press." .4. On courts censoring media content."Do you want the Court to go into every news report against your client? Is this a new law that a court is to supervise every newspaper content? There is a thin line. This at every level is pre-censorship." .5. On celebrities being in the public eye."What is defamatory about saying something about Shilpa Shetty? You choose a life in the public eye, part of this comes in the territory.".6. On reportage through sources."Whatever they (Mumbai Police Crime Branch) have told them, rightly or wrongly so, is not defamatory. A reportage on what the police source has said is by definition never defamatory!"