26/11 judge curbs media's 'communal' coverage

Special Judge M L Tahilyani, who is presiding over the 26/11 trial in Mumbai, on Thursday passed an order under Section 45 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, prohibiting the media -- print and electronic -- from reporting content that could lead to communal violence.

"The media should refrain from reporting such content, or will face prosecution," the special judge said.

The activities covered under the previous Section 45 of IPC (now it falls under Sections 153A and 153B of the IPC) are covered by the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act.

The judge passed the said order after Special Public Prosector Ujjwal Nikam brought it to the notice of the special judge that despite his earlier oral order to the same effect, some media houses published the chat transcripts between Indian television journalists and Imran Babar, the terrorist who died in the National Security Guards operation at Chabad House in Nariman Point.

"As a responsible public prosecutor, it was my duty to bring the reporting of such content to the notice of the honourable court," Nikam told rediff.com.

Special Judge Tahilyani asked mediapersons to go through the chat transcript that would be made available to them by his staff, instead of "misreporting".