MEDIA TRIAL vis-a-vis RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN INDIA Jeshika Bhuyan Legal Article Wed, Nov 01, 2023, at ,11:11 PM Recently, you all might have noticed that famous British-Indian businessman and husband of famous Indian actress Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra faced harassment on account of the extensive media trial due to his involvement in the filming of pornography. Not only him, his entire family was targeted by the media and were asked multiple questions which can categorically be said as absurd which hampered them so much that Raj Kundra started wearing different funky masks in order to avoid the media. We are today discussing Media Trial from one of the promotion events that Raj Kundra did on his upcoming movie UT69 where he specifically mentioned that the Media Trials he faced were much worse than the actual Judicial trial. He also stated that Media Trials give anxiety and depression to people. With this let's delve into the concept of Media Trial and also its linkage with Right to Privacy in India. Definition of Media TrialMedia Trial can be popularly termed as public scrutiny where the individuals, media pass on judgements on the person in question as they become the judge, jury, panel. This is even done by the media industry and particularly before the final verdict of the court is passed. Very often media trial is conducted parallel to Police investigations. Media Trial gained its popularity in recent years. Earlier Media Trials were not questioned because of the "Freedom of Press" given under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution but now there is an imbalance between Right to a fair trial and Freedom of Press. Media is now transgressing the Freedom vested upon it. The Balance between Fair Trial and Freedom of PressBoth of these rights are vested upon individuals through the Part III of the Indian Constitution. India, being a democratic country, confirms to Freedom of Press as an Fundamental Right under Article 19(1)(a)- where it lays down that "all the citizens have a right to freedom of speech and expression " and Freedom of Press is an inclusive, and implied freedom and becomes a subset of Freedom of speech and expression. Media is considered the middleman and forms the link between Government and Public. Media is also considered as the fourth pillar of democracy. The term fourth pillar of democracy was given to the Media by Thomas Caryle. Media is responsible for providing and furnishing to people with the daily worldly affairs which includes, Rural, Urban, National, International, Sports, Business, etc. Media is like a mirror which shows people the harsh realities and bestows upon them the truth. It is seen that the Freedom of Press allows the media to intervene and become helpful to people who want to build opinions, views, comments and even criticism on various topics. However there also arises a question of hard reality :- "Whether Media Trials are Constitutional?" Media Trials are protected under Article 19(1)(a) i.e. popularly known as Freedom of Speech and Expression. Now Article 19(1)(a) is exercised keeping in account the reasonable restrictions appended to it under Article 19(2) which includes interests of public order, morality, decency, sovereignty and integrity of the nation, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign nations, defamation, contempt of court. The list of Reasonable restrictions does not include "Privacy of an individual". Privacy of an individual though is protected under Part III under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Apart from this there is no special legislation to directly protect people, corporations, etc from extensive media Trials to protect their right to privacy. Hence, so far as concerned Media Trials are still Constitutional yet several PILs are filed to limit the arbitrary exercise of this Freedom of Press by the media and impose restrictions to it considering Right to Privacy as one of the restrictions. Right to Free and Fair TrialRight to Free and Fair Trial is a subset to Article 21 of the Indian Constitution i.e. Protection of Life and Personal Liberty. This right ensures that the individuals' fundamental rights are protected and certain procedural safeguards are provided to them during civil disputes and criminal trials. Right to be considered innocent until proven guilty is one of them. Very popular and the cardinal principle of Criminal Jurisprudence which is even exercised in civil cases is "Presumption of Innocence". The person who has been alleged to have committed a certain crime would be presumed innocent until the prosecution proves its case beyond all reasonable doubts. Other most important constitutional safeguards in the Right to Fair Trial are an impartial and fair jury/judge, right to be heard (Audi Alteram Partem), right to defend i.e. to present evidence and witnesses, etc. Why is there a conflict between Right to Fair Trial and Freedom of Press? Freedom of Press is exercised absolutely without any restrictions {apart from the restrictions present in Article 19(2)} and it defies some of the cardinal principles of Right to Fair Trial. One being the principle of "Presumption of Innocence", other being the "An impartial Judgment". Media trials potentially sensationalize the course of events, prejudice or influence the opinion of the public, and mostly there is biasness and partiality in the presentation of the news. Because of which there is a dire need to strike a balance between Right to Fair Trial and Freedom of Press. While exercising Freedom of Press many times the media defies Right to Fair Trial, and Right to Privacy. In order to strike a balance between these two rights there comes certain limitations and reasonable restrictions and also certain ethical considerations in order to maintain the balance. Journalist and media organizations are thereby required to exercise this freedom with utmost responsibility by providing verified, accurate information, respecting the right to privacy, responsibly reporting, refraining themselves for prejudicing a case which may intervene or hinder the judicial proceedings, making statements with utmost rationality relying upon reliable and trustworthy sources. The Courts acting as sentinel qui ve (protector of fundamental rights) should keep a check on whether the Right to Privacy of a person/ corporation/ organization is maintained and if not should issue contempt of court against the media organizations. It should be done to protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings. Why does there arise a question of Prejudice in the process of Media Trial? Media Trials potentially influence, prejudice and affect public opinions and views. The way the media organizations and journalists sensationalize the news creates confusion in the minds of the general public even forming a biased opinion which turns into a biased judgement and there are high chances that the public may presume the accused person as guilty and charge him/her for that which defies the cardinal principle of "Presumption of Innocence". This is seen everywhere when the public takes their social media accounts to harass the accused person even going to the extent of targeting their families. Media Organizations go to the extent of morphing pictures and creating headlines for clickbait which has now reliability and infringes the Right to Privacy. Recently the Kulhad Pizza couple was targeted because their intimate video went viral. The Media Trial was so harsh that the husband took his Instagram account to plead the media to stop sharing fake news as that causes a lot of mental agony to the couple who recently delivered a 2 month old baby. Morphing of pictures and creating headlines for clickbait should surely be criminalized. The issue of Prejudice in the Media Trials can also affect and undermine the Fair Trial. Right to Fair Trial should be protected and the necessary procedural safeguards should be vested upon the accused person. But because the Media Trials showcase a biased narrative which creates a prejudice and might subvert and reduce the impartiality of the jury/judge involved in the judicial trial. The external influence should not be the main reason for a biased judgement. The decision makers should exercise their Judicial minds rather than falling prey to the external media influence and compromising with the neutrality and unbiased verdict. Another point should be kept in mind that the Media Trials that creates prejudice and also concocts hindrance in the judicial proceedings can be issued with a Contempt of Court (both civil as well as criminal). The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, has vested the power upon the judiciary to take strict actions against those who try to impede or interfere in the process to administer fair justice. This legislation acts as a safeguard to the Right to Privacy and Fair trial against the Media Trials which try to obstruct the process of fair trial. Right to Privacy vis-a-vis Freedom of PressFreedom of Press is a public right whereas Right to Privacy is an individual right. Striking a balance between these two becomes challenging for the judiciary. While there's a primary responsibility on the part of the Media towards Publice Interest to unveil the truth and keep the general public informed regarding the various topics, events, etc but there should be a fine line demarcation as to what the public should know and what is an individual's right to privacy. The media should act rationale and responsible while acting as the mirror to the general public. To protect the public interest the media should keep a 360° check on the information it is disseminating. When two rights are in picture and one being a public right and one being the individual right, in order to strike a balance the rights should be exercised with utmost caution and restraint and not arbitrarily and recklessly. However, to protect the greater interest of the Public and when there's a reliability of the truthfulness of the information the Public right would prevail over the individual right. Case Laws:- 1:- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. & Ors. v. SEBI & Anr.Citation :- (2012) 10 SCC 603Held:- The Apex Court in this case held that the media should exercise restraint and caution while reporting on any legal proceedings to avoid impeding the fair trial process and not to create prejudice in the minds of the general public. The court was dealing with the issue of Right to Fair Trial and the impact of media trials. 2:- Zahira Habibullah Sheikh & Anr. v. State of Gujarat & Ors.Citation:- (2004) 4 SCC 158Held:- This is a classic case how media trials can prejudice the public and cause miscarriage of justice. In this case several vital witnesses turned hostile owing to the sensationalization of the news created by the Media in the Bakery Case. Due to the Prejudice created by the media there was a heavy influence and impact on the witnesses because of which it resulted in the Acquittal of the accused. It jeopardized the fair trial process and resulted in the miscarriage of justice. In this case the accused should have been held guilty but due to lack of proper evidence and the witness turning hostile, and the hands of the court being tied as the court cannot go beyond the power it is vested with, the judgement is considered a bad judgement. Courts cannot go beyond the evidence presented to it and the witness examination conducted during the trial even if it is aware of the truth. The Prosecution has to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts of the court. The Court can only apply it's Judicial mind on the evidence that was presented to it and the examination done before it. 3:- R. K. Anand v. Delhi High Court Citation:- (2009) 8 SCC 106Held:- The Apex Court held that if media trial interferes and impedes the administration of justice then the court can issue Contempt of Court against the media as it jeopardizes the integrity of the Judicial Proceedings and does not maintain the dignity of judiciary. The court also highlighted the significance of the integrity and dignity of the judiciary which needs to be upholded. Conclusion:- Media Trials is appended with a lot of other dimensions such as Right to Privacy, Right to Fair Trial and Freedom of Press. It is like an intersection. The primary requirement is to maintain a balance between all three above mentioned rights in order to uphold fair justice. It is important to protect and safeguard the accused person's right to privacy and right to Fair trial and not impede the process of administration of justice. Media is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy, the epitome of truthfulness and the mirror to the general public, due to which the media should act responsibly and rationally and avoid prejudicing public opinions. There should be specific directives and guidelines for conducting of media trials in order to avoid it's negative impacts in the integrity of justice and it should be made sure that actual, accurate and righteous justice is served.