Abhishek Dwivedi
Shakespeare had rightly said” all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. The lines are true in the context of India but in a modified way.” all the world’s a Courtroom; And all the men and women merely Judges.” Today, everyone is a self proclaimed judge in every case. This dangerous precedent has made media the virtual judiciary. Today media is passing the judgments, not news. This is not only lethal for democracy but also for the legal system of the country.
The Arushi case was one of the few cases which received the maximum damage due to media activism contrary to the Jessica case where it proved very helpful. The debates after debates on media, continuous interviews of all accused and related persons not only created a negative atmosphere but made CBI suffer when it decided to go against the parents. When the Court only asked CBI to file the charge sheet against the Parents, media pronounced the judgment. Guilty. Media has snatched the very basic right of every individual-the right to be considered innocent unless pronounced guilty. The power of being a pillar of free and strong democracy is actually attacking its own root. Free press should be the mean of promoting justice, not holding media trials.
The second very interesting point is the shift in the way a story comes out in public. Earlier the story or the news was informative in nature, but now it is more of a conclusion based. Today, Summon is the taken as the judgment document. The mention of name in a charge sheet makes him an accused. Selective and half-baked stories are replacing the real news. And surprisingly it is really making the difference. People are becoming more judgmental rather than observers. The news channels, and also the print media, in quest for better viewership are striking the weak chord of viewers. Add spices and sensationalism to the news. Make it more gloried and large than actually it is. And use the pessimism for the same. We are more affected by the negative thing than a whole bunch of positive things. But the real problem arises when we start looking at an issue with others glasses.
India had a non-political movement after a very long time. Somehow, must say, the media played a positive role here too. The movements of Anna and Ramdev gave media what they wanted. Some glorified it, while others took it with a pinch of salt, but yes, an extensive coverage was done. It would be right to say that, without the media, Anna wouldn’t have done it. On the other part, government, without the help of media could not have demolished Baba Ramdev and his Satyagraha. But this also shows a problem. The biased and tilted face of media. There is a huge divide between the media, one section which is pro-issue and the one anti-issue, while issues ranging from corruption to communalism. Also the main stream media is in the dock after the 2G scam. Its bearing a huge amount of allegations after two senior journalists were directly involved in the Radia tapes. But it’s interesting to note that they were left untouched in the name of free press.
Government also has a very big hand in making the atmosphere like this. Every day or two, one of it minister comes out and starts explaining the legal aspects of a scam. They justify the acts by terming them immoral, not illegal.. Every day, a press conference is organized in which a spokesperson, be it from BJP or government talks about the legal aspects of a scam. Ministers like Kapil Sibal and Law minster V.Moily actually wanted us to believe that legally, there was no 2G scam. Other example was an interview by Mr.Nitin Gadkari, who said B.SYeddiurappa is legally not guilty, but morally is. These incidents are a sign of declining morals in politics. The L\leaders believe as if the whole world is their court room and nobody knows law except them. It shows a decline on the part of democratic values.
But at the end of the day, the problem lies with us. We are the one real force behind all this judgmental journalism. We promote this. In fact we follow this. Today, verdicts are pronounced in bed rooms. Judiciary has been left with symbolic meaning only to punish the culprit physically. Rest, we are judge, we are the lawyer and we are everything. We subject a person, against whom only allegations have been leveled, to a low degree of mental harassment, if the court begins with us and ends with us. We have become conclusive and decisive in nature on the basis of half and partial truths. We judge instances based on tilted stories and biased emotions. And sad part being, the innocents are paying the price of our arrogance. Media and self proclaimed media drives against certain people are a threat to the legal system of India. We need to become more observing and sensitive. We have no right to give ex-parte judgments. Also media needs to redefine and reinvent its role. It has no right to declare someone guilty or innocent. We have an efficient judiciary for it. Also it cannot ruin the life of an innocent by waving charge sheets of police or CBI in the studio. It is highly inappropriate and unjustified. We must remember and respect the basic fact, and I repeat “A person is guiltless, till proved otherwise.” Believe in the law of land and respect one’s legal rights.
