Media reporting 'innocuous' court remarks for sensation a disturbing trend: Delhi HC

New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it has become a "disturbing trend" that some "innocuous" remarks made by courts during case hearings which may or may not even be connected with the proceedings are being reported by the media merely to create "sensation".

It said such reporting of proceedings which may generate curiosity of the public to read with more interest is accepted without realising that the remarks are not part of the hearings or do not pertain to the merits of the case and need no prominence.

The court's observations came while dealing with a plea filed by businessman and AgustaWestland case accused Shravan Gupta, claiming that certain false, malicious and defamatory news articles were reported on July 16 and 17 by some media houses, targeting the professional reputation and dignity of his counsel, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa.

"It has become a disturbing trend in recent times to report even some most innocuous remarks that may be made by the court during the case hearings, which may or may not even be connected with the proceedings, merely to create sensation," Justice Neena Bansal Krishna said in an order.

The court said this was one such case where an innocuous general remark was made expressing a concern about repeated adjournments by lawyers.

The judge said to observe and falsely attribute that the remark was specifically directed towards Pahwa was not only incorrect but essentially designed to create a sensational news story of interest to the public at large.

The court said there was a scant regard to the fact that this may cause harm to an individual who was diligently discharging his duty of representing the litigant.

"This is clearly not the mandate for the media, which owes the responsibility of not only making correct information available to the public but also ensuring that unnecessary sensationalisation is not created by taking innocuous remarks out of context and reporting them as the main event," it said.

Regarding Gupta's plea that media houses be directed to delete the defamatory content from their online and print platforms and to publish a public apology, the court said it was expected that the media houses which are of great repute, would themselves consider whether such reporting should be allowed to continue on their media portals and no further directions are required.

In the order, the court also dismissed a plea by Gupta, who is reportedly residing in London, seeking to quash a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him in a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.

A Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court had issued an "open ended" NBW against him in August 2020.

Gupta is alleged to have left for the UK in 2019 after the federal probe agency summoned him for questioning.

The high court further refused to allow him to join the investigation through video conferencing, saying VC rules permit a party to join virtually but does not give an inherent right to the petitioner to deny appearing in person even though his presence is mandatorily required.

"He cannot take a shelter behind VC rules to assert that he can claim to join investigations through video conferencing...

"The repeat conduct of the petitioner over a period of time clearly reflects that he was evading joining the investigation and the NBWs had been rightly issued against him," it said.

The high court noted that the underlying fear of Gupta is that his physical appearance will inevitably lead to his arrest.

The court, however, said while the purpose of the NBW is to secure his attendance, the law provides adequate remedies for this apprehension.

"The petitioner's fear that he would 'necessarily be arrested' is a misplaced apprehension. The petitioner has ample safeguards and provisions under the law to seek protection, once he subjects himself to the jurisdiction of the court," it said, adding that the circumstances fully justifies his physical presence for effective investigation.

An Interpol Red Notice was issued against him in August 2023.

The ED filed a supplementary charge sheet in February 2022 naming Gupta as an accused in the VVIP chopper case.

It has attached assets worth Rs 21 crore in the probe as part of two money laundering investigations against Gupta, director of real estate company MGF Developments.

The second PMLA case against him is of over Rs 180 crore.

The ED has alleged that offshore entities "beneficially owned and controlled" by Gupta received "proceeds of crime" worth more than Rs 28.69 crore (Euro 1,912,000 and USD 3,457,180) in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP Choppers "scam".

Gupta was the managing director and executive vice chairman of Emaar MGF Land Limited between 2005-2016.

It is alleged by the ED that during this time, Gupta came into contact with another accused in the case Gautam Khaitan, who later introduced him to Guido Haschke (an alleged middleman and an accused in the same case).

Gupta, as per ED's case, created offshore corporate structures to "launder" proceeds of crime generated by Khaitan and Haschke as "kickbacks" from the VVIP choppers deal.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore paid by the firm for securing the deal. PTI SKV ZMN