Courts should refrain from imposing gag orders on media organizations: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday stressed that courts should refrain from imposing gag orders on media organizations, according to media reports. The court also reportedly clarified that fair criticism of a judicial ruling does not amount to contempt of court.

The apex court’s statement came following a Delhi High Court directive, which mandates Wikipedia to take down a page within 36 hours in connection with a pending ?2 crore defamation suit filed by news agency ANI against the platform.

“Why should courts be touchy about some comments made against their orders in social media?” a bench comprising justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan was quoted as saying by some media reports.

“Courts can’t pass gag orders. Someone may be proceeded against under a criminal contempt action, a notice will be issued, and the other side can opt to purge the contempt. But to tell someone to remove something just because there is some criticism of what the court has said or done is not okay,” remarked the bench.

The court mentioned that it was “ironical” that a media entity ANI was seeking a gag order against another platform that provides information.

The Supreme Court’s intervention came after Wikipedia challenged the Delhi high court’s order, which directed the platform to take down a page discussing the defamation suit filed by ANI.