Remove victim’s name, videos from electronic and social media: Supreme Court | India News
NEW DELHI: The disclosure of the identity of the doctor who was sexually assaulted before her murder on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, and the distribution of video clips of the body, Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered immediate Deletion such posts from social and electronic media.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed the order on a plea filed by advocate Kinnori Ghosh and others, who argued that disclosure of the name of the sexual assault victim and distribution of the video clips of the dead body were in violation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment in the Nipun Saxena case and Section 72 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The panel headed by the CJI passed the ex parte order to delete these posts as it found that such omissions on the part of the persons who posted these posts on Social Media and the electronic media not only violated the law and the Supreme Court order but also constituted an insult to the dignity and privacy of the victim.
During the morning hearing, the same court said: “We are deeply concerned that the name and identity of the raped and murdered women have been revealed in all media. Photographs have been all over the media. Video clips of her body have been released, either before or after the autopsy.”
“This is extremely worrying. We are the first to recognise the right to freedom of expression. But there are fixed parameters that have been established in the new penal code. There are rulings that say that the names of victims of sexual violence cannot be revealed.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, said he fully agreed with the court and informed the court that the state police had so far filed 50 complaints on social and electronic media for this violation. “These photographs were taken before the police arrived at the scene. We did not allow anything like this to happen after that,” he said.
The Chief Justice of India said, “Is this the way we show dignity to a deceased who was sexually abused? The person who lost her life was a young doctor. In such cases, everyone has to exercise restraint.”
In the Nipun Saxena case judgment delivered on December 11, 2018, the Supreme Court had stated, “No person shall print the name of the victim or publish it in print, electronically, on social media, etc. or disclose even remotely any facts which could lead to the identification of the victim and should make his identity known to the general public.”
“In cases where the victim is dead or mentally incapacitated, the name of the victim or his identity shall not be disclosed even with the permission of the next of kin unless there are circumstances justifying disclosure of his identity. The decision shall be taken by the competent authority, currently the Sessions Judge,” the Supreme Court had said. Following this, the Union Home Ministry had issued a general direction incorporating the above-mentioned Supreme Court decision.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra passed the order on a plea filed by advocate Kinnori Ghosh and others, who argued that disclosure of the name of the sexual assault victim and distribution of the video clips of the dead body were in violation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment in the Nipun Saxena case and Section 72 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The panel headed by the CJI passed the ex parte order to delete these posts as it found that such omissions on the part of the persons who posted these posts on Social Media and the electronic media not only violated the law and the Supreme Court order but also constituted an insult to the dignity and privacy of the victim.
During the morning hearing, the same court said: “We are deeply concerned that the name and identity of the raped and murdered women have been revealed in all media. Photographs have been all over the media. Video clips of her body have been released, either before or after the autopsy.”
“This is extremely worrying. We are the first to recognise the right to freedom of expression. But there are fixed parameters that have been established in the new penal code. There are rulings that say that the names of victims of sexual violence cannot be revealed.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, said he fully agreed with the court and informed the court that the state police had so far filed 50 complaints on social and electronic media for this violation. “These photographs were taken before the police arrived at the scene. We did not allow anything like this to happen after that,” he said.
The Chief Justice of India said, “Is this the way we show dignity to a deceased who was sexually abused? The person who lost her life was a young doctor. In such cases, everyone has to exercise restraint.”
In the Nipun Saxena case judgment delivered on December 11, 2018, the Supreme Court had stated, “No person shall print the name of the victim or publish it in print, electronically, on social media, etc. or disclose even remotely any facts which could lead to the identification of the victim and should make his identity known to the general public.”
“In cases where the victim is dead or mentally incapacitated, the name of the victim or his identity shall not be disclosed even with the permission of the next of kin unless there are circumstances justifying disclosure of his identity. The decision shall be taken by the competent authority, currently the Sessions Judge,” the Supreme Court had said. Following this, the Union Home Ministry had issued a general direction incorporating the above-mentioned Supreme Court decision.
