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'Is This Investigative Journalism?' Bombay HC To Republic TV On Sushant Singh Rajput Case

The court also asked the channel about hashtags it aired related to Rhea Chakraborty.
File image of Arnab Goswami.
SUJIT JAISWAL via Getty Images
File image of Arnab Goswami.

While hearing Public Interest Litigations about the coverage of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked Republic TV why hashtags related to the arrest of actor Rhea Chakraborty were part of the channel’s coverage.

“Is this part of investigative journalism? Asking public about their opinion on who should be arrested?” the court asked Malvika Trivedi, who was appearing for Republic TV.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice GS Kulkarni asked questions after Republic TV’s submission that it was carrying out investigative journalism to unearth the facts relating to Rajput’s death, LiveLaw reported.

“When a case is under investigation and the issue is whether it’s a homicide or a suicide and a channel is saying it is murder, is that investigative journalism?”

The court told the channel that “investigative powers are given to the police under the CrPC” after Advocate Malvika Trivedi, appearing for Republic TV, said that the Supreme Court accepted there was something amiss and that’s why it directed the CBI to be part of the probe.

Republic TV told the court that they were just stating facts and the channels had been trying to point out facts which had otherwise not been brought on record, according to Bar and Bench.

The court questioned the channel on the manner in which the case was covered by it. “We are referring to the basic journalism norms where a basic etiquette has to be maintained for suicide reporting. No sensational headlines, no constant repeating,” Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying.

The hearing is still underway.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.