The press must regulate itself when reporting on criminal cases and not disclose details of the investigation as it can end up helping the accused, said Supreme Court judge Justice Uday U Lalit on Saturday, PTI reported. He was speaking in Ahmedabad as a part of the Justice PD Desai Memorial Lecture Series on whether media reporting interferes with a fair trial.

While there is no law that prohibits the media from covering the investigation of a crime, there cannot be total lawlessness, said the judge. “In this country, we consider the rights of the press to be of such level, eminence, that we do not want to curtail them. No statute can curtail them,” he said. “That does not mean there is complete lawlessness. There is self-regulation which the press must have.”

Journalists should also refrain from reporting on the details of an investigation as it help the accused, Lalit said. During the course of an investigation, the media cannot be charged for contempt of court as such an offence under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, can only happen after a chargesheet is filed in the court, he said.

Lalit’s comments came a day after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition challenging the Patna High Court’s order restraining the media from reporting about the inquiry into the rapes of minor girls at a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. The plea, to be heard on Monday, claims that the “erroneous order” is equivalent to imposing a “blanket ban” on media reporting in the case and is contrary to the freedom of speech and expression.

However, Lalit added that the Supreme Court still has “the inherent right to direct gagging of media”, a power it derived from Canadian jurisprudence.

The media should not disclose the identities of vulnerable victims or witnesses as it could “tremendously affect” the outcome of a case, he added.

Last month, the Supreme Court banned electronic media from telecasting images of the minor girls, even in morphed or blurred forms, who were allegedly raped at the shelter home. The court also expressed concern over the identity of minor rape victims revealed in the media.

The judge said that the concept of televised court proceedings, which is being considered by the Supreme Court, is to ensure transparency and protect the rights of the accused. “When you say a man should be tried in an open court, there will be sufficient safeguard for him with members of public overseeing,” said Justice Lalit.

Last month, the Supreme Court said it would scrutinise the legal provisions on rules for the media while reporting cases of sexual assault, including that of minors, in order to prevent “parallel media trials”.