Sushant suicide probe: High Court asks media to exercise restraint
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it expects media organisations to exercise restraint while publishing or reporting any details about investigation in the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
A division bench of Justices A A Sayed and S P Tavade said the media should report in such a manner that it does not hamper the investigation.
The court was hearing two petitions which claimed a "media trial" was going on in the case of Rajput's death and sought for it to be stopped.
One of the petitions was filed by eight former IPS officers against the "unfair, malicious and false media campaign" against Mumbai Police.
The petitioners include former director generals of police M N Singh, P S Pasricha, K Subramanyam, D Sivanandan, Sanjeev Dayal and Satish Mathur, former additional DGP K P Raghuvanshi and former Mumbai police commissioner D N Jadhav.
The other petition was filed by filmmaker Nilesh Navlakha and two others who claim to be social activists, seeking direction to media organisations not to sensationalise reportage in the case.
"We urge and expect the media to exercise restraint before publishing or reporting on details of the investigation, and report in such a manner that it does not hamper the investigation," the court said.
The bench said before hearing the matter further, it would like to first see what the Union government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the case, have to say in response to the pleas.
The high court posted the petitions for further hearing on September 10.
The court also said Navlakha shall once again serve copies of his petition to news media channels that are respondents in the petition.
Navlakha's advocate Devadatt Kamat told the court that they are not demanding a prohibition on reporting in the case, but only seeking the media to adhere to journalistic standards and ethics.
The plea filed by the retired IPS officers said a section of TV channels has been trying to influence the course of investigation being carried out by central agencies like the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), and is running a false propaganda against the Mumbai Police.
Senior counsel Milind Sathe, appearing for the retired police officers, on Thursday argued that the media was running a "parallel investigation and the reporting is completely defamatory towards the city police".
"We (petitioners) are not concerned about which agency is probing the case or who the accused persons are...we are only concerned about the media trial being conducted," Sathe said.
The retired IPS officers have sought a direction to news media organisations to refrain from publishing or circulating any false, derogatory and scandalous comments which may jeopardise the reputation of the city police.
Rajput, 34, was found hanging in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14 following which the Mumbai Police e registered an Accidental Death Report and recorded statements of over 50 people, including some of his family members and Bollywood personalities.
The late actor's father on July 25 lodged a complaint with Patna Police, accusing Rajput's girlfriend and actress Rhea Chakraborty and her family members of abetting his suicide and misappropriating his money.
The Supreme Court last month upheld the transfer of the FIR lodged in Patna to the CBI, which is currently probing the case.
Besides, the ED is probing allegations of money laundering against Chakraborty and her family, while the NCB is probing a drugs trafficking case linked to the case of Rajput's death.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
LPG bookings close to normal, but situation continues to be worrisome
New Delhi (PTI): Bookings for domestic LPG refills are approaching pre-war normal levels, signalling a gradual return to normalcy, but concerns persist as supply restrictions on commercial consumers, including hotels, remain in place due to ongoing disruptions in input supplies caused by the West Asia conflict.
Over 33 crore domestic LPG consumers had, on average, booked about 55 lakh cylinders daily before the February 28 military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran. The escalation triggered sweeping retaliation from Tehran, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz - a critical shipping corridor used by major Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to export crude oil, gas and LPG to key markets including India.
The shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz blocked India's access to almost 60 per cent of its LPG, leading to curtailment of supplies to commercial users and triggering panic buying by domestic users, which peaked to 87.7 lakh on March 13.
Bookings have since fallen to 56-57 lakh on March 18, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
"Panic booking is coming down," she said, adding that the government continues to prioritise the supply of available LPG to domestic households.
However, "LPG (supply) situation remains worrisome but there is no dry out at any LPG distributor," she said.
Commercial users are getting just a fifth of their requirement.
Sharma said domestic LPG production has increased by over 40 per cent in the last two weeks and the three public sector oil marketing companies have been making normal, pre-war levels of daily deliveries of LPG refills.
"Our supply has not dipped. Some days the supply has been higher (than pre-war times). On March 18, 54.91 lakh LPG cylinders were delivered against a booking of over 56 lakh," she said.
Oil companies are operating extra shifts to keep LPG deliveries in pace with the bookings. They delivered 62.5 lakh cylinders on March 13 and 60 lakh on March 14 - the peak two days of panic bookings.
LPG supplies are under close monitoring amid the prevailing geopolitical tensions, with no dry-outs reported at distributorships and domestic cylinder deliveries continuing uninterrupted, she said.
Online bookings have risen sharply to 94 per cent, while Delivery Authentication Code (a unique OTP that is sent to registered mobile numbers of actual users to ensure LPG is being delivered to correct customers) coverage has expanded to 83 per cent.
In addition, customers near a city gas network are being encouraged to shift to piped natural gas - a convenient alternative to LPG as the fuel continuously travels through pipes to household kitchens without the botheration of refill bookings.
"In the last two weeks, 1.25 lakh new domestic, commercial and industrial connections have been issued," she said.
Raids and inspections to stop black marketing continue with seizure of cylinders as well as FIRs in several states.
The Union government on March 18 wrote to all state governments asking them to take all steps to prevent black marketing and hoarding while taking stringent actions against violators.
Besides, alternate fuels such as kerosene are being promoted, she said adding commercial LPG stocks have been placed with states for using them as per their priority list.
