Media ban in courts: VS Achuthanandan letter seeks CJI to intervene

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Veteran CPM leader V.S. Achuthanandan on Friday wrote to the Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur seeking his urgent intervention to resolve the ban imposed on the entry of journalists in court premises. Achuthanandan pointed out that his intervention was important to create an atmosphere in courts where media is able to report without any fear or intimidation.

Following an incident in Kerala High Court in Kochi, mediapersons have not been able to report from HC or other courts in the state which is unfortunate, he added. The veteran leader said the CJ should intervene and resolve the issue at the earliest. He said a section of advocates and police were preventing the media persons from entering the court premises across the state.

As a result, the media persons are not able to discharge their professional responsibilities of disseminating information regarding important court cases to the people, he said and added that practically they are not able to report from any of the courts. Achuthanandan said these advocates and police were jointly obstructing free and fair reporting by which people were being denied of their right to get information about important issues.

It is unfortunate that the media room in the High Court has been shut to make the court premises out of bounds for the media persons. This is totally against the concept of constitutional provision of having an open court, he said. He demanded immediate intervention of the chief justice.