The Chief Justice of India(CJI) N V Ramana on Friday rejected an appeal filed by a journalist who was sentenced to 1 month in prison for a defamatory article against lawyers.
The CJI affirmed the sentence of 1 month of jail term to a journalist, raising questions over the kind of journalism practised and asserting that the jail sentence is quite mild.
While quashing his petition, CJI said, “Let him suffer! What kind of journalism is this? We have to protect lawyers too. One month is very less.”
Journalist sentenced to 1 month in jail for a defamatory article against lawyers etc, appeal before #SupremeCourt: #CJI: Let him suffer! What kind of journalism is this? We have to protect lawyers too. One month is very less. #SupremeCourt
— Utkarsh Anand (@utkarsh_aanand) December 17, 2021
CJI Ramana laments over the steady decline of investigative journalism in India
Earlier yesterday, the CJI brooded over the state of journalism in India, adding that the concept of investigative journalism is, unfortunately, vanishing from the media canvas.
“In the past, we have witnessed newspaper reports on scandals and misconduct creating waves, leading to serious consequences. (But) barring one or two, I don’t recall any story of such magnitude in recent years. Everything in our garden appears to be rosy. I leave it to you to arrive at your own conclusions,” the CJI said at the launch of the book “Blood Sanders: The Great Forest Heist”, by Sudhakar Reddy Udumula.
