Some of the film industry's biggest names had come together in the unprecedented legal action.
Nearly a month after leading Bollywood filmmakers filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against "irresponsible reporting by certain media houses", the court today told two channels - Republic TV and Times Now - that "no defamatory content" should be displayed on their channels or uploaded on social media. Some of the film industry's biggest names, including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, came together in the unprecedented legal action against the media houses.
The lawsuit was filed amid the fallout of the Sushant Singh Rajput death, which is being investigated by three probe agencies - the CBI, the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate. The suit was filed against Republic TV, and Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari of the channel; and Times Now and its top faces Rahul Shivshankar and Navika Kumar.
"Media can't run a parallel trial. You're a broadcaster... show news. There is less news and more opinion," the court told the channels today, stressing that "things are being pre-judged".
Amid exchange of arguments, the court today recalled the circumstances under which British Royal Princess Diana died in 1997. "Bollywood celebrities are entitled to privacy. Look what happened in the case of Princess Diana... she died because she was being chased by the media. You can't just go on like this. The courts are the last ones to want to regulate," Justice Rajiv Shakdher said.
"Even cuss words are being used during live debates. Nobody is stopping from reporting but language and the manner has to be right," the court said.
During the hearing, as Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the media houses - AGR Outlier Media Pvt Ltd and Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd - to ensure that no defamatory content is uploaded on social media platforms or displayed on their channels, the lawyer representing Times Now asked for clarity: "How do you define defamation here?"
"You represent the fourth pillar (of democracy), and people are scared about the condition of fourth estate in this country," Judge Shakdher told the Times Now lawyer at one instance.
"15 years ago, there was an incident. A teacher in Delhi was accused by a TV channel of exposing children inappropriately. She was almost lynched. But none of that news about her was true. She did not even have the money to file a defamation case against the channel," the judge said at another instance during the hearing.
"We expect fair reportage but sadly that is not happening. Not just in India but across the world. We used to find Doordarshan stale but now I wish it comes back. The black and white Doordarshan was so much better," he said.
The court has sought written response in two weeks in the case, and recorded the assurances by the channels to follow the Cable TV Act & Rules, and the Programme Code.
Lawyer Malvika Trivedi, representing Republic TV, told the court: "We can't file a reply in two weeks because my client is in judicial custody." She was referring to Arnab Goswami's arrest last week from his Mumbai home. However, the judge replied: "It's a big company. I am sure that there are other people."
"The 'Programme Code' is being violated in this coverage. It prohibits innuendo and half truths. There is a statutory requirement to comply with this code. But these "news reports" violate the rules," the court was told by the filmmakers.
The channels used "highly derogatory words and expressions for Bollywood", the producers had said earlier, listing terms like "dirt", "filth", "scum" and "druggies" used over the past few months.
While the producers didn't call for blanket media gag in the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation, they wanted the court to stop reportage that violates the law. They also wanted the channels to "withdraw, recall and take down all the defamatory content published by them against Bollywood".
NDTV is not among the channels facing charges in the high court.
Times Now Editor-in-Chief Rahul Shivshankar, in response, had said earlier cases against his channel's journalists were "bad precedent".