Challenges in legal reporting deliberated
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 14 2024: Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice Siddharth Mridul today underscored the necessity of fair reporting of judgment orders passed by the Courts and cautioned against criticism of Judges.

The Chief Justice made the statement while delivering his introductory remarks during the interaction program with legal correspondents on the topic "Challenges in legal reporting and role of the media" organized by the High Court of Manipur in collaboration with the Manipur State Legal Services Authorities (MSLSA) held at the Judges Lounge, High Court of Manipur today.

The interaction programme marked an initial step towards improving the relationship between the judiciary and the media by introducing accreditation for legal reporters in the High Court, which will facilitate journalists to gain easy access to information from the Court.

Justice Siddharth Mridul stated that Court judgments need to be translated into words which can be understood by the common man and this is where the expertise and the experience of legal reporters come into force.

Stating that criticism of the judgment is welcome as long it is fair, he interjected that discrepancies emerge when certain quarters concentrate on issues extraneous to matters presented before the court.

The criticism has to be of the judgment and not the judge, he asserted.

Addressing the gathering, Ojesh Mutum, Registrar General, High Court of Manipur stated that the High Court is working on introducing its orders in Meetei Mayek and Bengali script in consultation with experts to ensure that the orders are easily understood by the public.

Meanwhile, resource person Utkarsh Anand shared his insights on the importance of accuracy and knowledge in court reporting.

He said that legal reporters need to know the functioning of the courts, their procedures and legal processes.

Highlighting the importance of reporting precisely what the court has ruled or declared without mixing opinions, he stressed that reporters should not go beyond court rulings or declarations.

Reporters should confine their reporting to the court order, what exactly the court has done, why it was done and how the court arrived at the decision, he said.

Further, he spoke about the role of legal reporters in promoting public legal education and their responsibility to inform people about their rights and entitlement, as well as the decisions made by the courts that affect them.

Comment