Kangaroo courts by media affecting health of democracy: CJI

Ranchi: Agenda-driven debates and kangaroo courts being run by the media are detrimental to the health of the democracy, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said on Saturday.

Delivering the inaugural lecture instituted in the memory of Justice Satya Brata Sinha here, CJI Ramana said media trials affect the fair functioning and independence of the judiciary. "Media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases.

Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide. Ill-informed and agenda-driven debates on issues involving justice delivery are proving to be detrimental to the health of democracy," he said. "Biased views being propagated by media are affecting the people, weakening democracy, and harming the system.

In this process, justice delivery gets adversely affected. By overstepping and breaching your responsibility, you are taking our democracy two steps backward," he added. Print media still has a certain degree of accountability, he said, adding that electronic media has zero accountability as what it shows vanishes into thin air.

At times, there are concerted campaigns in media, particularly on social media, against judges, he said. Owing to the frequent transgressions and consequent social unrest, there is a growing demand for stricter media regulations and accountability, CJI Ramana said.