New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday had a
dig at the media saying it was "charging, convicting and
executing" people outside the court.
"We are witness to individuals being charged not in
the court of law, but outside (media) charged, tried convicted
and executed. Ultimately public memory is short. Newspapers`
value is only for two hours. After that they have only scrap
value, though we are tempted to read it!
"But it is different with the electronic media because
they run it for 24 hours," a bench of justices G S Singhvi and
A K Ganguly said.
Then bench took the dig after senior counsel
Andhyarujina appearing for former Telecom Minister A Raja
complained that his client`s reputation was badly tarnished on
account of the adverse media coverage carried out on the basis
of the CAG`s report.
He said the figure quoted by the CAG was "highly mind
boggling and sensational."
He claimed that the figure had badly tarnished the
reputation of Raja on account of the perceived hype generated
by the media on the issue evoking.
"You (Andhyarujina) are representing your client this
we came to know through the media. "What is the solution? Can
you stop people from doing the exercise, the Bench said.
However, it added that the same media reported the
"hero`s welcome" given to Raja when he went to Tamil Nadu.
"It was also shown in the media that your client was
given a hero`s welcome... We also came to know from the media
that he was garlanded heavily. It is a mixed bag for you," the
bench remarked.
Andhyarujina complained that one particular newspaper
had tarnished his image by alleging that he was part of the
strategy session convened by Solicitor General Gopal
Subramanimum. The counsel lamented that though he wrote to the
editor of the paper clarifying that he never attended the
session, no clarification was issued nor was his letter
replied to.
Subramanium intervened to say that the reference in
the newspaper that the Solicitor General was "ticked off" by
the Law Minister was in bad taste. He wondered whether such a
high ranking officer could ever be ticked off by the Law
Minister.
PTI
