Judge hearing Sohrabuddin case imposes gag on reporting of proceedings

The judge hearing the Sohrabuddin case in the Mumbai City Sessions Court has passed a gag order, preventing the media from reporting on the proceedings of the case..In an order passed yesterday, a copy of which is with Bar & Bench, CBI judge SJ Sharma allowed an application made by defence counsel Wahab Khan to ban print and electronic media from publishing or reporting anything on the trial till the judgment is passed..On being allowed to make submissions before the court, the media persons present in the court room yesterday protested the proposed ban. Khan, however, argued that if day-to-day publication of evidence brought on record is allowed, it is likely to affect the trial in an adverse manner..Khan also cited incidents that occurred during the trial of the 2008 Malegaon blasts, where the court had passed a similar gag order in light of attempts “of killing senior lawyers who were members of the defence team”..While deciding the application, the judge lauded the media for their efforts in shedding light on important events..“So far publication of event of any incident, breach of fundamental rights of citizens, accidents, economic offence etc, it is always done in good faith. Because of the help of the media, many victims succeeded to approach investigation agencies.”.Despite this, Sharma saw it fit to allow the application, citing the sensational nature of the case as the reason for doing so. The order states,.“Considering the senitibility (sic) in the matter, likelihood of happening of any untoward incident and likelihood of effect on the trial of this matter, in case of day-to-day publication of evidence that may be brought on record, I am of the view not to allow media to make publication of any of the proceeding during the trial in the matter until further order. It may happen that publication may create security problem for the accused persons, prosecution witnesses, the defence team and the prosecutor as well.”.Over the past couple of weeks, speculation surrounding the Sohrabuddin case has been rife, particularly with respect to the death of Brijkishan Loya, the CBI judge who was initially tasked with hearing the case.