Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and the communication tool which delivers information
and data. The newspaper, internet, television, magazines, and the recent one social media are
included in a group of media. It has a right to freedom of speech and expression along with a
right to freedom of press under Article 19(1)(a) . Media has a power to influence the masses, a
form of power from which it can build or malign the image of an individual. It can even change
the government! Not only this but the media is a sole body which can influence a person in a
way which it wants. Media plays a main role in changing the opinion of society, it can change
the whole viewpoint of society - even the decisions of the court are not untouched from its
influence.
Media has a great role in influencing the court's decision. As we can see in the Nirbhaya case
(2012) : media highlighted its power to stimulate debate and change attitudes. Media brought the
whole country’s attention to this case. It also forced the courts to take stringent decisions. In
2020 Nirbhaya got justice and somewhere there was a major role of the media. People started
getting more and more aware about what is happening in the country and around the world all
because of the media. Judges have to make decisions in limited time and because of media, case
pendency in the courts have reduced to a considerable amount.
The platforms like social media and newspapers are of great importance in impacting the court
decisions. In social media like twitter people show their resentment when they don’t get satisfied
with the decision of the court. In newspapers great intellectuals try to criticize the court or
governments if there is some loophole in decisions and laws respectively. We can see the effect
of it in the case of Nirbhaya where the convicts tried many times to take advantage of the
loopholes in Indian system. They escaped many a time from the punishment by using the
loophole tools.
Findings by the media after or before the decision of the court has become a trend in the present
time to increase the Television Rating Point (TRP) of a news channel. Media has forgotten the
important gap between the accused and a criminal. In today’s scenario, the media can influence
the large number of society by making an innocent person a culprit by changing their
perspective. Due to these things judges also may have led to psychological variations in giving
any decision.
There is no question of doubt on media that media has disclose or exposed various high profile
cases like In Sidhartha Vashisht Manu Sharma vs State (Nct Of Delhi) In this case it is clearly [1] seen that the media has shaped this case and brought justice. Without media, social justice can’t
be possible in this case. It is the power of the media that leads to victim to justice!
But at the same time pre decision of media is not at all right , as In Dr Mrs. Nupur Talwar vs Cbi
Delhi And Anr the pre decision of Aarushi Murder Case was given by media that her parents [2] are guilty of murder of Aarushi, but Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has not found any
evidence against her and court’s final decision came after many years Media is also known as a
magic bullet which directly influences the person’s mind. A person directly believes what the
media shows, Yes! All of us had concluded this that it was her parents who killed her, but this
was not true. Similarly In 2002 Godra riots case, Narendra Modi was declared culprit by the
media for killing Muslims in Gujrat, but in 2014 Gujarat High Court has dismissed all the
allegations against Narendra Modi, but then also many people think that Narendra Modi is the
only person behind the Godra Riots, This shows that dignity, respect suffers even after the
person is proved innocent.
Sometimes Judges are also influenced by the media, but judicial oath and their training bind
them to their obligation of not to any media or person and to give legally bound decisions of the
case. In respect to penalizing judges sometimes regarding the general public and for their
opinion, the media is the only source. Media also puts pressure on judges for delivering justice in
the manner which they want.
There are always two sides of a coin, similarly the media has positive as well as negative
influence on courts decisions. Media is like a lubricant to the judiciary system. It gives support to
the judiciary. It is because of the media “ Justice delayed means Justice denied” concept can be
improved. But sometimes the media's influence can create a problem. Too much influence
sometimes puts a question on the reasoning of a judge. In a democratic country like India
judges are being respected for their reasoning and independence. It is necessary that the media do
not interfere in court work.
References
1
, (2010) 6 SCC 1
2
(2012) 11 SCC 465
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