The media has the right to report on the registration of FIRs, and cases filed in courts - Bombay HC

Case: Vijay Darda & Anr. v. Ravindra Gupta

Court: Justice Vinay Joshi of the Bombay High Court 

Recently, the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court ruled that the media has the right to report on the registration of FIRs, and cases filed in courts. Defamation action cannot lie based on such reports. The HC stressed the freedom of the press while quashing a defamation case against the owners of a daily newspaper.

Reporting accurate information on the registration of cases as defamatory would mean restricting reporting on investigations to only the final outcome, denying the public the right to know what is happening. The primary function of the press is to provide accurate information and in a democratic setup, it would be unhealthy to allow defamation cases against the media for publishing accurate reports.

The Bench was considering a petition by Vijay Darda, Chairman and Rajendra Darda, Editor-in-Chief of Lokmat Media Pvt. Ltd. (applicants). The petitioners sought quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against them by a Magistrate Court on a defamation complaint.

The complainant alleged that the publication was false and defamatory as the publishers had not verified facts before publishing the news. The Court noted that the applicants were not concerned with the publication and that there was another editor named in the paper who was not an accused in the FIR. 

The HC, therefore, held that the offence of defamation had not been made out against the applicants.