Journalists not exempted from disclosing their sources to investigation agencies: CBI court
The matter pertains to the CBI case where a report related to an alleged disproportionate asset case against Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members was published by a newspaper and aired by some channels on Feb 9, 2009, a day before its hearing in SC.
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New Delhi, Jan 19: A special Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) court in New Delhi, on Tuesday (Jan 17) rejected a "closure report" and said that there is no statutory exemption in India to journalists from disclosing their sources to the investigating agencies.
While rejecting the "closure report", the CBI court also directed further investigation into the matter. The investigating agency can always bring to the notice of the concerned journalists the requirement of disclosure of the source is essential and vital to the investigation proceedings, the court said. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Anjani Mahajan of Rouse Avenue District Court made the observations and rejected a "closure report" filed by the CBI in a case related to the alleged forgery of documents.
There is no statutory exemption in India to journalists from disclosing their sources to investigating agencies, if such disclosure is necessary, observed a Delhi Court on Tuesday.#delhicourt #journalists #cbi pic.twitter.com/mBvHCZ1T4J
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 18, 2023
The investigating agency is fully equipped under the sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to require the public persons to mandatorily join in an investigation where the investigating agency is of the opinion that such public persons are privy to any facts or circumstances pertaining to the case under investigation and public persons are under a legal duty to join the investigation, the court added.
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The matter pertains to the CBI case where a report related to an alleged disproportionate asset case against Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members was published by a newspaper and aired by some channels on Feb 9, 2009, a day before its hearing in the Supreme Court. The agency had claimed that the journalists who published and aired the alleged forged documents refused to disclose their source, therefore, it could not complete the investigation in the matter.
A First Information Report (FIR) was then lodged by the CBI alleging that some unknown persons prepared a fake and fabricated report to tarnish the agency's reputation. After the investigation, the CBI filed a closure report in the matter.
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