The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea with respect to alleged “harassment” of some journalists by the Greater Chennai City Police (GCCP) in connection with the Anna University sexual assault First Information Report (FIR) leak case investigation.
A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and M. Jothiraman said, it would not hear any petition regarding the issue since the matter had now been taken to the Supreme Court. The judges said, the aggrieved parties must only approach the top court for appropriate relief.
When advocate A.P. Suryaprakasam made a mention before the Bench and alleged the police were “harassing” the journalists by seizing their mobile phones, Justice Subramaniam said, it was up to the police to investigate how the FIR got leaked into the public domain.
The advocate submitted: “There’s no need for the police to harass mediapersons. They want to send a message to the society that whoever challenges them, will be taken to task. That should not be the attitude… Your Lordships may say that they should not harass the journalists,” the advocate pleaded.
However, the senior judge in the Bench replied: “Whatever we had to say, we said it in our order (constituting a SIT to investigate the sexual assault case as well as the FIR leak case). Now, the matter is pending before the Supreme Court. We can’t do anything now.”
When Mr. Suryaprakasam accused the police of traversing beyond their powers by posing unnecessary questions to the journalists, the judge said: “It is for you to approach the police and explain what happened. If you had not done anything illegal, go and explain it to them.”
Though the advocate also said: “We are being taken to task because we have reported Your Lordships’ judgement in a very fair manner. Your Lordship will have to protect the freedom of the press,” the judge replied: “Freedom of press is always protected. There’s no difficulty at all. As far as the investigaiton part is concerned, you go and explain to them what exactly happened. They have to consider it.”
The Bench refused to issue a direction to the police to give their questions, to the journalists, in writing. “No, we will not entertain such petition because the matter is pending before the Supreme Court. Any petition you will have to file only there,” Justice Subramaniam said.
