'Can't publish case diary, confessions not in public domain'

New Delhi: Confessional statements of an accused which are not in the public domain cannot be accessed and published, observed the Delhi High Court which on Monday questioned Zee News over broadcasting an alleged confession of Jamia student leader Asif Iqbal Tanha, arrested in a case related to the north-east Delhi riots this February.

The high court also said that journalists do not have the right to take out the case diary and publish it. The high court directed Zee News once again to reveal its source for the story. Justice Vibhu Bakhru rejected the channel's request to disclose the concerned reporter's name in a sealed cover. The matter has been next listed for October 23.

The high court was hearing a plea by JMI student Asif Iqbal Tanha alleging misconduct by police officials in leaking his "disclosure" statement to the media.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, representing Zee News, argued that pressing for disclosure of source would amount to interfering with the freedom of the press as guaranteed under the Constitution.

The high court, however, said it does not think that it's a journalist's right to take out the case diary and publish it and that the news report cannot be based on documents that are not in the public domain. "These are documents that you cannot take out and publish. There is no doubt about it," the judge said.

The high court had earlier refused to pass an ex-parte order directing the media houses, Zee News and OpIndia and social networking platforms Facebook and YouTube to remove the content and had said that it will pass necessary orders after hearing all the parties.