Media Trial V. Constitutional Rights Of Accused

Sasha Kumar, Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai

Introduction

Media is the fourth pillar of democracy. Indian Media has grown drastically in the last few years and it never fails to keep the public aware of the happenings in the country. But media has now taken the place of a public court. With their prejudicial views, they have completely overlooked the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” and “guilty beyond reasonable doubt”. They paint the picture of the accused as a criminal and if then he is proven innocent there is no place for someone like him in our judgmental society since he has been termed a “convict” by the Indian Media and the judgment passed by them holds higher regard compared to the highly educated judges sitting in the esteemed courts.

The harsh truth is that the public forms an opinion either for or against it before the accused is even presented before the court. This blasphemous act which is committed by the media is overlooked because Indian laws do not have any restrictions or limitations to curb them.1 The media is considered an indispensable facet of democracy but has transgressed the boundaries of its domain in India. It has usurped the working of the judiciary by conducting trials that run parallel to that of the courts.