Chennai: Madras high court has directed the special investigation team (SIT) probing the FIR leak in the Anna University campus rape case not to harass journalists under the guise of inquiry. Justice G K Ilanthiriayan passed the order on Tuesday, on a batch of pleas moved by Chennai Press Club on behalf of journalists, alleging harassment by the SIT.
“To how many others have you (SIT) issued summons other than the journalists? Have you shared the same questionnaire for the others to answer,” the judge asked the SIT. He also asked if the SIT had issued summons to the author of the FIR and obtained a statement from her.
Even the details of the ‘forefathers’ of the journalists have been sought, that too without even inquiring the author of the FIR and the officer responsible for uploading the FIR on the online portal, the court said.
To this, counsel for the SIT submitted that mobile phones were seized to ascertain whether the downloaded FIR was shared or forwarded to anyone.
“When the FIR is available in the public domain, where is the question of forwarding,” the judge said.
The court then made it clear that the SIT cannot harass the journalists for downloading the FIR from the public domain when there is no proof of publishing the same and adjourned the petitions for passing orders.
Earlier, the journalists alleged that the SIT asked them to answer many irrelevant personal questions and seized their mobile phones and electronic gadgets. They were also summoned for inquiry multiple times despite their cooperation with the probe. Advocates Ilangovan for the Chennai Press Club, K Balu, Jothimani, Vivekanandan, and Arun, representing the journalists, contended that the arms of the SIT cannot be longer than that of the court or the law.
They further pointed out that access to the FIR filed in connection with the leak of the victim’s identity has been blocked, and they couldn’t even ascertain who are all arrayed as accused in the case. As per the existing laws, merely downloading the FIR is not an offence; only publishing the details and identity of the victim is an offence, they added.