New Delhi, Sep 10, 2020 –
The Delhi High Court on Thursday expressed displeasure over the alleged parallel investigation being run by journalist Arnab Goswami on his TV channel in the death of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar.
“People must take a course in criminal trial and then get into journalism. It is not a reflection on the plaintiff (Tharoor) but the investigating agency. Can there be a parallel investigation or trial?… Would you not like the courts to take their own course,” said a single judge bench of Justice Mukta Gupta.
The court also observed that responsible journalism is the need of the time while adding that it was not saying that anyone will gag the media but at the same time, the sanctity of the investigation must be maintained. “Can the media sit in appeal against the charge sheet filed by an investigating agency?” the bench asked.
The observations came in while the bench was hearing a plea filed by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor seeking an interim injunction against Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, from making defamatory remarks against him.
The court also said: “Please show restraint. Once the police investigation is going on in the criminal case, there cannot be a parallel investigation by the media.”
The senior Congress leader was aggrieved of the broadcast of the programmes naming him on the TV channel in July and August. In the said programmes, Goswami has claimed that they have investigated the Pushkar case better than the police and that he still has no doubt that Tharoor’s wife was murdered.
Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a five-star hotel in south Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014. (Agency)
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