Overview
- The High Court order, dated April 30 and made public Friday, tells the Information & Broadcasting and IT ministries to examine Darshan’s January complaint and act within six weeks, with a compliance report due in 12 weeks.
- Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum said the broadcasts appear to violate the Cable TV Programme Code under Rule 6 and may amount to contempt of court as well as breaches of IT intermediary rules.
- Clips before the court showed channels recreating courtroom scenes while masking only the judge’s face, along with graphics and AI-style reconstructions that turned hearings into a public spectacle.
- If violations are found, the ministries must consider steps under Sections 19 and 20 of the Cable TV Act, including suspending or prohibiting telecasts, and the judge left room for Darshan to pursue contempt proceedings.
- Darshan, accused in the 2024 Renukaswamy murder case and denied bail by the Supreme Court last year, listed nearly 1,000 YouTube and Meta links in his complaint as the court also cited Sheppard v. Maxwell to stress the harms of pre-trial publicity.