HC directs media to remove news identifying rape victim
New Delhi, May 29: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed media organisations to remove news items disclosing the identity of an eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district.
The direction by a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar came after it was told that despite the court's order to not identify the girl, some of the news organisations are still naming the child in news items.
The court sought the names of such media organisations.
Observing that notice has not been served to one of the newspapers till now, the court said it was shocking that a newspaper is not aware of pending litigation despite the wide publicity of the news related to the matter.
The court noted that none from that media organisation had turned up for appearance before it and listed the matter for July 16 for further hearing.
It had observed that several internet platforms and social networking sites are extensively displaying the photographs and the name of the victim.
The court last month directed 12 media organisations to pay Rs 10 lakh each as compensation for disclosing the identity of the girl, saying that there were long term repercussions for the victim's family, especially for the women members, due to such kind of reporting.
The court said they had violated the law and could be punished under Section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code.
Under Section 23 (Procedure for media) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, any person who discloses the identity of a child victim could be sentenced to a minimum six months' imprisonment, it said.
The minor in Kathua was held captive inside a temple and sedated before being repeatedly raped and murdered.
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Bombay High Court strikes down Centre's plan to set up Fact-Check Unit
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has struck down the central government's plan to establish a fact-checking unit (FCU) under the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023. The decision comes in response to a petition filed by standup comedian Kunal Kamra, challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's move.
Justice A.S. Chandurkar, delivering the final verdict, declared that the proposed IT Amendment Rules violated key provisions of the Indian Constitution, namely Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression), and 19(1)(g) (right to profession).
“I have considered the matter extensively. The impugned rules are violative of Articles 14, 19, and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India,” Justice Chandurkar said in his judgment. He further remarked that terms like "fake, false, and misleading" in the IT Rules were "vague" and lacked a clear definition, making them unconstitutional.
This judgment followed a split verdict issued by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in January. The bench, consisting of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale, was divided in their opinions. While Justice Patel ruled that the IT Rules amounted to censorship and struck them down, Justice Gokhale upheld the rules, arguing that they did not pose a "chilling effect" on free speech, as the petitioners had claimed.
The matter was then referred to a third judge, leading to today's decision. The Supreme Court had previously stayed the Centre's notification that would have made the fact-checking unit operational, stating that the government could not proceed until the Bombay High Court ruled on the case.
Kunal Kamra and other petitioners had argued that the amendments posed unreasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. They contended that the provisions would lead to government-led censorship, effectively granting the government unchecked powers to determine what constitutes 'truth' online. The petitioners further claimed that such powers would turn the government into "prosecutor, judge, and executioner" in matters of online content.
With the Bombay High Court’s ruling, the Centre's move to create fact-checking units has been effectively halted, reaffirming the importance of protecting freedom of speech and expression in the digital space.
