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The Court was hearing a plea filed by the of Aam Aadmi Party's Vijay Nair alleging that sensitive information pertaining to the case against him has been leaked into the public domain by the investigation agencies, which is violative of his right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to 5 media houses and directed the regulatory body to peruse the broadcasts and file a status report in a plea filed by Vijay Nair.
Nair is the former CEO of Mumbai-based entertainment company Only Much Louder and Communication in charge of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is accused in a case in connection with the irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy Case. Nair has alleged that sensitive information has been leaked into the public domain by the investigation agencies.
A bench of Justice Yashwant Varma asked the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) to call their member media companies and ask them about the source of information leaked and other related information while the court will keep the petition pending. "We want you to come back on this," the court added. The bench was unhappy with the reportage by the media companies including Republic TV, India Today, etc, in the case.
Counsel for the Enforcement Directorate informed the bench that no press release has been circulated in relation to the investigation. Additionally, the counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted that several press releases were circulated but no information relating to the investigation has been released along with the press release. The press release was given after the tweet of Manish Sisodia.
The Court said, "We just want to clear and substantiate that none of these news broadcasts are given by the ED or CBI. Did they (media houses) ever reach out to the agency as to if the information is correct and how many witnesses have been examined?"
Earlier, The Delhi High Court had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation and Directorate of Enforcement to place on record all the press communication made in the public domain related to Nair, accused in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case.
Vijay Nair was arrested on September 27 by the CBI and was initially remanded to 5-day CBI custody for his alleged role in the irregularities in the Excise policy of the Delhi government.
Case Title: Vijay Nair v. CBI
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