NEW DELHI: Dismissing a man’s petition seeking gag order against some news publication claiming their reports may affect his cases, the Delhi High Court said merely a publication cannot impair the impartiality of the court or affects the ability of the court to determine the true facts.
“Merely because a publication pertains to a Court proceeding this Court cannot come to a conclusion that the publication either tends to impair the impartiality of the Court or affects the ability of the Court to determine the true facts. One has to carefully see the nature of the publication and find out as to the content of the publication will cause prejudice to the trial of a case or not,” Justice Subramonium Prasad in a recent order.
The high court has also fined a cost of Rs. 10,000 on one Ajay Kumar, who was seeking direction on newspapers to conceal his identity while circulating any news or article related to him.
It further said one has to carefully see the nature of the publication and find out as to the content of the publication will cause prejudice to the trial of a case or not.
“Prejudice by a publication can be of two categories one which tends to impair the courts impartiality and the other which prejudices the court’s ability to determine true facts,” the court further said.