Things left unsaid: The Wire withdraws SLP in Jay Shah defamation case after heated debate

Online news portal The Wire and journalist Rohini Singh withdrew their appeal in the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the defamation case filed by Jay Shah against them..Senior Counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for The Wire, prayed for withdrawal, saying that the petitioners will face the trial in the Gujarat court..The Bench allowed the same, but not before a heated discussion on media ethics..The Bench took note of the fact that The Wire had given Jay Shah only 10 to 12 hours to respond before publishing the story on him..Justice Arun Mishra made some strong remarks about journalism, with the latter saying,.“This is a civilised country. What is this culture we are developing that we give notice in the night and publish in the morning? Why should we allow you to withdraw? What is this culture developing in this country? This institution has suffered… Why should we not take it up suo motu… We are worried as a judge of this court,.Justice Gavai also joined in saying.“It’s nothing short of yellow journalism. What kind of journalism is this?”.Sibal said that the judges should also watch Television channels and see journalism they do..“Fortunately, we don’t have time”, Justice Gavai replied..Justice Arun Mishra then remarked that,.“We want to say many things but we won’t say it.”.In response, Sibal said,. “I also want to say many things but won’t say so.”.It eventually allowed The Wire to withdraw the appeal while also stating that the trial court should conclude the trial as expeditiously as possible..The Court also stated in its order that media organisations giving short notice to persons before publishing stories about the concerned persons is an issue that needs to be decided at an appropriate stage..Initially, the Court dictated an order stating that the trial should be completed in six months. Sibal opposed the same vehemently stating that there is nothing in the matter that requires to be decided urgently. The Court then relented and said that the matter should be disposed of by the trial court expeditiously..As Sibal was walking out, the Bench said that he should be happy with early disposal as “you will get acquittal in six months”..“With the kind of observations made (by Supreme Court), we might get conviction”, responded Sibal..The publication has released the following statement:.The matter has its genesis in an article published by The Wire alleging impropriety in the dealings of Jay Shah. In reaction to the article, the younger Shah filed a civil defamation suit of Rs. 100 crore against the publication and its journalists on October 12. A separate criminal defamation case was also filed against the publication..This prompted The Wire to approach the Supreme Court for quashing the criminal case..During a hearing in the Apex Court last year, the publication made it clear that it will not apologise in the criminal defamation case filed by Jay Shah, son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah..On an early date, the Court made some strong observations calling for greater responsibility on the part of electronic and print media while reporting..[Read Order]