Mumbai: Eight former IPS officers have moved the Bombay High Court against the ‘unfair, malicious and false media campaign’ against Mumbai Police in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. The ‘media trial’ should be stopped, the plea urged the court.
The petitioners are former Maharashtra DGPs MN Singh, PS Pasricha, DK Sivanandan, Sanjiv Dayal, Satish Mathur and K Subramanyam, former Mumbai police commissioner DN Jadhav, and former additional DGP K P Raghuvanshi.
The petition, filed August 31, said a section of news channels have been trying to influence the course of investigation which is being carried out by the CBI, ED and NCB. The plea also said that the channels are airing false propaganda against Mumbai Police.
It sought a direction to media organisations to refrain from publishing or circulating false, derogatory and scandalous comments. The plea said these might jeopardise the reputation of the city police.
“The media organisations should be directed to ensure that reporting of ongoing investigations is done in a balanced, ethical, unbiased and objective manner and to not turn such reporting into a media trial and a vilification campaign against the police and others,” the petition said.
It also sought a direction to the concerned authorities to frame the guidelines to be followed by the media while reporting on such cases. The petition is yet to be listed for hearing.
Rajput was found hanging in his apartment June 14 in suburban Bandra. While the Mumbai police registered an accidental death report (ADR) and started probe, his father July 25 lodged a complaint with Patna Police alleging that the actor’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family members had abetted his suicide.
The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Enforcement Directorate is probing allegations of money laundering against Rhea and her family; Narcotics Control Bureau is looking into claims that she use to consume drugs and also supply them to Rajput.