Committed to free media, says Election Commission

New Delhi: The Election Commission Wednesday said it was unanimous that there should not be any prayer before the Supreme Court for restriction on media reporting over oral observations made by judges.

The Commission was responding to a news report that the poll panel's plea in the Madras High Court to gag the media from reporting oral observations of judges and its subsequent Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the high court's "murder charges" remark were not unanimously approved by the poll panel.

A senior functionary said the EC had moved the top court against the oral observations made by the Madras High Court.

He said based on the oral observations, which were not part of the written order, people could seek action against EC officials.

The functionary pointed out that a case was filed against senior EC officials in West Bengal following the observations made by the high court.

When asked whether there was unanimity in the Commission when it asked the Madras High Court to restrain media from reporting oral observations by the bench, another functionary referred to a portion of the press statement which said that "The Commission always has appropriate deliberations before any decisions are taken."