Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Tuesday said that independent journalism is the backbone of democracy and journalists are the eyes and ears of the people. "Independent journalism is the backbone of democracy. Journalists are the eyes and ears of the people. It is the responsibility of media houses to present facts, especially in the Indian social scenario. People still believe that whatever is printed is true," CJI Ramana said.
"All I want to say is that the media must confine itself to honest journalism without using it as a tool to expand its influence and business interests," he said during an event in Delhi.
Furthermore, CJI Ramana also pointed out that only media houses without business baggage, were able to fight for democracy during dark days of emergency. "The true nature of media houses will certainly be assessed from time to time & appropriate conclusions will be drawn from their conduct during testing times," he said.
Chief Justice's recent remarks came days after he slammed the electronic and social media 'trials', saying that media run 'kangaroo courts' at times on issues and even experienced judges find it difficult to decide.
Ramana stressed the need to ensure proper judicial infrastructure, the problems created by media trial in judicial administration, future challenges of the judiciary and the importance of judicial review in protection of the Constitution.
"New media tools have the enormous amplifying ability but appear to be incapable of distinguishing between the right and the wrong, the good and the bad and the real and the fake. Media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases," he said during an event in Ranchi.
"Ill-informed and agenda-driven debates on issues involving justice delivery are proving to be detrimental to the health of democracy," he had said rapping the biased views appearing on social media. He said further that biased views propagated by media are affecting people, weakening democracy, and harming the system.
Pointing out that such an enviroment adversely affect the justice delivery, Ramana blasted that by overstepping and breaching your responsibility, you are taking our democracy two steps backward.