Supreme Court On Propriety & Procedure Of Media Briefings By Police Personnel

 

Recently, in the case of People's Union for Civil Liberties and Another v. State of Maharashtra and Others, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1166, the Hon’ble Supreme Court discussed a very pertinent question relating to the propriety and procedure of media briefings by police personnel in our country.

 

The Court observed that there is “a need to have a uniform policy which can be adopted for nominating nodal officers who would be available to share the official version at the stage of investigation, consistent with the need to ensure that the disclosure itself does not derail the course of the investigation.”

 

In this regard, the Hon’ble Supreme Court floated certain suggestions that came up during the course of the hearing of the matter: -

 

1. Each district or town ought to have a Media Briefing Cell (MBC) for interactions with the media. Such interaction/Press Releases must be in writing and with the authorization of a senior police officer. Press Briefs must be prepared on each case, which will be the basis of any media briefings.

 

2. The briefing of the press can be done at any stage after an FIR has been registered, an arrest effected or a raid conducted. However, at the earliest stages, very little information must be parted with, as facts would need full and complete confirmation.

 

3. Notwithstanding anything else, the primary concern of the police ought to be the fair administration of justice without compromising on individual rights of privacy or of presumption of innocence.

 

4. Information ought not to be released which would portray the police as insensitive or vindictive or which would suggest the pre-judging of an issue.

 

5. The location of the offence, especially in the context of harassment, domestic violence, stalking etc., ought to be avoided as it would compromise the victim.

 

6. In no circumstances may the identity of victims of sexual offences and juvenile cases be divulged by the police. The same may apply to the victims of continuing offences, i.e. abductions and kidnapping. The police would also be careful to share details of ongoing operations or investigative strategy that would alert the offenders or compromise witnesses confidential informants.

 

7. The Press Briefs will be maintained as permanent records of the media interactions of the police, with one copy at the Police Station in question, one at the MBC and one at the District Headquarters. All such briefs will be provided online as well.

 

8. Any breach of the above Guidelines must be strictly dealt with departmentally, so that any such misadventure may be deterred.

 

On the basis of above-stated suggestions, the Court has asked all the Police Departments to communicate their suggestions as well in this regard to the Ministry of Home Affairs for the preparation of appropriate guidelines.