Sushant Singh Rajput Case: Court says Reporting Against Mumbai Police was “Contemptuous”

Mumbai, 18/1: The Bombay High Court on Monday said that the coverage by Republic TV and Times Now in the Sushant Singh Rajput case was “prima facie contemptuous” of the Mumbai Police. The court was hearing a plea regarding the case. It added that it is not taking “any action as of now” but made it clear that media trial during investigation in a case “does impact the investigation”.

The court was hearing petitions in the case of  Sushant Singh Rajput. One of them was by former Indian Police Service officers that objected to the negative portrayal of the Mumbai police by a section of the media during their investigation into the death of the actor in June last year. Another petition pointed out that a section of the media was running a trial in the case and asked to court to restrain them. The case was eventually passed to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Judges said that, “Media trial leads to interference and obstruction to administration of justice and violates program code under the Cable TV Network Regulation Act.”

They added, “Any reportage has to be in accordance with the norms of journalistic standards and ethics, else media houses stand to face contempt action,”