Fair and Free Trial vs Media Trial

Authors

  • Maninder Gill Sudhiir
  • Rhea Sudhiir

Abstract

Freedom of media is the freedom of people to be informed of public matters pertaining to their rights and duties. Free and healthy press is a main requisite to functioning of the democracy. It is called the fourth pillar of a democracy. The right to freedom of speech and expression is contained in Article 19 of the constitution but the same article also restricts this right from being absolute – as media today has power to shape and influence the public opinion and can create a clear bias in civil cases. They have rules to follow when the case is sub-judice, this has been done because of the irreparable damage done by the same due to its outreach. If on one side the media has crossed the line and declared a number of people guilty it has on the other side brought many a guilty to the hook. A trial by media can in some cases tramples upon fundamental rights of an accused and interfere with free and fair decision-making. This paper is a study of the power of the media and the enormous effect the coverage has on the impressions and opinions of the people and its positive and negative impacts.

Keywords: Media, Judiciary, Ethics, Media trial, sub-judice, contempt, Public opinion

Published

2024-02-01

How to Cite

Sudhiir, Maninder Gill, and Rhea Sudhiir. “Fair and Free Trial Vs Media Trial”. International Journal of Advances in Social Science and Humanities, Feb. 2024, https://ijassh.com/index.php/IJASSH/article/view/229.

Issue

Section

Research Articles