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.
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AI-powered robotic canal cleaning system commissioned in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) (PTI): In a major step to phase out manual scavenging and ensure the safety of sanitation workers, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation commissioned G-Spider, an AI-powered robotic canal-cleaning system, at the Amayizhanchan canal near the railway station premises at Thampanoor here, officials said on Thursday.
The system was launched by Minister for Local Self-Governments MB Rajesh at a function presided over by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Mayor VV Rajesh on Wednesday.
The AI-powered canal cleaning project is a joint initiative of the city corporation and Technopark-based Genrobotic Innovations, which developed Bandicoot, a robotic scavenger.
As per the agreement, Genrobotics will bear the full cost of deploying the robotic system, while the corporation will supervise its operation and maintenance.
Speaking at the event, the minister said Genrobotics has set an example of how innovative ideas can be transformed into impactful entrepreneurship.
He said that of the seven compressed biogas (CBG) plants to be commissioned in the state for solid waste management, one will be set up in the state capital.
Rajesh said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Rs 100-crore CBG plant at Brahmapuram in Kochi on February 28, adding that 90 per cent of the nine lakh metric tonne of accumulated waste at the site has already been removed.
He further said work on the Palakkad plant will be completed in February, while construction of another plant in Thrissur is progressing, and a plant at Changanassery is in the pipeline.
The minister added that the construction of four sanitary plants will be inaugurated next week.
In his address, the mayor reiterated the corporation’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies for waste management and lauded the Genrobotics team, stating that the civic body would explore all possible ways to utilise the company’s technology.
Repeated manual cleaning efforts in the area had led to serious safety incidents, including the death of sanitation worker Joy in 2024.
In this backdrop, the corporation initiated the deployment of robotic cleaning technology in strict compliance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, with the aim of eliminating human entry into hazardous canal-cleaning operations, officials said.
Corporation Deputy Mayor Asha Nath GS, Divisional Railway Manager Divyakant Chandrakar, and Genrobotic Innovations CEO and co-founder Vimal Govind MK were present on the occasion.
G-Spider is designed to operate in complex, high-risk canal environments without requiring human entry.
Built on a cable-driven parallel robotics architecture integrated with AI-enabled vision and sensor systems, the robotic platform enables precise detection, assessment and removal of accumulated waste.
The system uses machine vision and intelligent sensors to autonomously identify and assess waste in real time, dynamically adapting to varying waste types, water flow conditions and structural constraints within canals, officials said.
Guided by AI-driven vision algorithms, the robotic mechanism performs precise waste extraction through a five-degrees-of-freedom configuration, enabling accurate positioning, stable gripping, and reliable debris removal.
The extracted waste is automatically transferred to designated collection vehicles, enabling a fully hands-free, end-to-end canal cleaning process from detection to disposal, they added.
