The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, which is scheduled to announce its verdict in the long-pending Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute Friday, has issued guidelines for the media - keeping it away from the court on the judgement day and asking it to maintain restraint.
According to the guidelines issued Tuesday, it has disallowed entry of media into the court room, which was stated to be not big enough to accommodate a large number of people, but has taken certain measures to ensure that copies of the judgement are made available to the media within minutes of its pronouncement.
The direction came in a public interest lawsuit, moved by a local lawyer Prince Lenin, who sought a restraint order against reporting of the verdict by the media.
However, the bench comprising Chief Justice F.I. Rebello and Justice Pradeep Kant felt that it was not fair in a democracy to even think of barring the media from disseminating the news relating to the judgment.
But they emphasised on the need for media to observe utmost restraint in disseminating correct information, without allowing it to get coloured by personal prejudices and any other extraneous factors.
'Democracy survives if people are given a right to express their views. At the same time we are aware that news, if not properly disseminated, or improperly made, is likely to impair the unity and integrity of this nation,' the court observed.