Media can cover open court proceedings: HC

KOCHI: The media can report open court proceedings, the Kerala high court said on Monday.
This was clarified by a division bench comprising Justices K T Sankaran and M L Joseph Francis, hearing the appeals of the accused in the Suryanelli sex case. A committee of high court judges had earlier decided against the media reporting the open court proceedings.
Justice Sankaran said the media was not banned from reporting the proceedings but it should exercise caution while reporting the judges' comments. If the final judgment was contrary to a comment the judge had made during the hearing of a case, it might give the impression that the judge had been influenced, the court pointed out.
Justice Sankaran further said a comment or question posed to counsel is intended to know the arguments fully and could not be construed as the court's opinion. The opinion of the court would be stated in the judgment in the case, the bench said.
The court made the clarification while dropping contempt of court proceedings against The Times of India for a report on the judge's observation in an open court.