SC allows The Wire to withdraw appeal in defamation case filed by Jay Shah
- Supreme Court says the trial against news portal The Wire and its scribes will be expeditiously completed by the competent court
- SC also expresses anguish over the way journalism is being practised in the country now
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed news portal The Wire and its scribes to withdraw their appeal against the Gujarat high court order in a defamation case filed by Jay Shah, son of Union home minister Amit Shah, over an article, even as it expressed anguish over the way journalism is being practised in the country.
The apex court said the trial against them will be expeditiously completed by the competent court.
Though a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra allowed the withdrawal of appeals, pending in the apex court for around one-and-a-half year, it expressed anguish over the way journalism is being practised in the country now.
The bench also comprising justices M.R. Shah and B.R. Gavai said that it has become a fashion to serve notice to a person for explanation and even before it can be answered, the articles are published within five to six hours.
The bench made this remark when senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the portal and its scribes, sought withdrawal of the appeals filed by them.
The Wire issued a press statement on Tuesday: “Circumstances have arisen as per which we believe it is best if we make use of the opportunity to justify everything we have stated in our article at the trial. We are therefore withdrawing. We believe the fight for media freedoms will have to be advanced at all levels. Our article was factual, based not only on records but on facts admitted by Jay Amit Shah. Though it is still very much our belief that neither a criminal case not an injunction is legally justifiable, we intend to face trial in Gujarat secure in the knowledge that constitutionally mandated rights of the media will eventually prevail.”
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First Published:27 Aug 2019, 09:31 PM IST
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