The Indian Express has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against a Gujarat High Court order that refused to accept its earlier apology over the incorrect reporting of court proceedings. The High Court had demanded a fresh apology from the newspaper, saying the initial one lacked clarity and remorse.
The matter was heard by a Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih, which granted leave to the petition. The case has now been tagged along with a similar plea filed by Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd., the publisher of The Times of India, against the same High Court order.
Earlier, on September 4 last year, the Supreme Court had granted leave in the Times of India’s petition and ordered a stay on the Gujarat High Court's ruling dated September 2. However, it clarified that the main proceedings in the High Court, related to amendments in the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Act, would continue.
Background of the Case
On August 13, 2023, the Gujarat High Court, led by Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi, issued notices to The Times of India and The Indian Express for misreporting observations made during a hearing. The reports had given an incorrect impression that the Court’s comments were its final judgment.
Both newspapers initially agreed to publish public apologies.
However, on September 2, the High Court expressed dissatisfaction with how The Times of India, The Indian Express, and Divya Bhaskar published their apologies on August 23. The Court noted that the apologies lacked proper context and were not prominently displayed.
“You should have given it a complete headline that apology is in relation to what. Who is going to understand what is the apology for? Apology for reporting a wrong report, it should come and the report should have been there with this apology,” said the Chief Justice.
Read Also:- Supreme Court Declines Petition Seeking Guidelines on Cryptocurrency Fraud, Cites Policy Domain
The High Court had directed the newspapers to publish a fresh apology within three days, this time in bold letters on the front page, clearly mentioning the nature of the mistake.
“This is not the way a newspaper tenders an apology for reporting a wrong news item. It should be related to the news item… When you are creating a sensational news then it is so huge letters, bold letters with some catch words… where is the remorse? It is not an unconditional apology. It is only an eyewash,” the Chief Justice observed.
“Same language in both newspapers. Both editors have tendered apology in the same language.”
Case Title: THE INDIAN EXPRESS PVT. LTD. v. THE REGISTRAR HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT, Diary No.42992/2024
