Media running ‘agenda-driven’ ‘ill-informed’ kangaroo courts: CJI

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday (July 23) slammed TV news channels that ran “biased”, “ill-informed” and “agenda-driven” campaigns on issues concerning the nation and even cases being tried by the courts.

“There are concerted campaigns in social media against judges. Judges may not react immediately. Please don’t mistake it to be a weakness or helplessness,” Justice Ramana said, delivering a lecture at an academic event in Ranchi.

“New media tools have enormous amplifying ability but appear to be incapable of distinguishing between the right and the wrong, the good and the bad and the real and the fake,” the Chief Justice said.

He said the media was holding trials on cases and behaving like kangaroo courts.

“Media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases. We see the media running kangaroo courts, at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide,” he said.

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“Ill-informed and agenda-driven debates on issues involving justice delivery are proving to be detrimental to the health of democracy,” he added.

He said such biased views spread by the media were weakening democracy and harming the system. “In this process, justice delivery gets adversely affected,” he said.

“By overstepping and breaching your responsibility, you are taking our democracy two steps backwards,” Justice Ramana said.

Print media still has a certain degree of accountability, the top judge said, adding, “Whereas electronic media has zero accountability as what it shows vanishes into thin air. Still, worse is social media.”

Noting that self-regulation was the best way to regulate the media, he said, ” I urge electronic and social media to behave responsibly. Electronic media should rather use their voice to educate people and energise the nation.”