The
Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to prepare a
comprehensive manual on media briefings by police personnel about criminal
cases.
Observing
that biased reporting gives rise to public suspicion that the person has
committed an offence, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said
media reports can also violate the privacy of a victim.
The
top court also directed DGPs of all states to submit suggestions in a month to
MHA on preparing manual for media briefings by police in criminal cases.
"All
DGPs, in a month, should communicate to Ministry of Home Affairs, their
suggestions for guidelines...NHRC's suggestions may also be taken," the
bench said.
The top court was hearing a plea regarding
modalities followed by police in conducting media briefings where probe is in
progress.