Supreme Court of India. | Photo credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday (March 21, 2026) highlighted the growing insensitivity in a society where even the busiest people stop their cars and rush to the scene of road accidents not to help dying victims but to shoot videos for social media.
The chief justice, who headed a three-judge Bench, made the observation in response to a writ petition regarding the police’s use of social media handles to provide details of the names and faces of people it considers suspicious. The petition drew the court’s attention to how the police often cooperate with the media by allowing them to photograph accused persons and even show them in handcuffs and ropes.
“This amounts to a critical violation of Article 21 (fundamental right to dignity) of the Constitution of the accused,” said senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner Hemendra Patel.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan said the knock-on effect of such behavior is public anger when the courts finally grant bail to the accused.
“The entire functioning of the administration of criminal justice is disrupted,” he said.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that the issue must be examined in the broader context of the right to a fair trial. The judge said that the police must act responsibly and sensibly and must not show bias as the investigating agency was neither for the accused nor for the victim, but an entity seeking to uncover the truth, which would then be judged by the courts in an unbiased and forensic manner in the trial.
Rule of law subverted
Justice Bagchi said the “cloudy or malign atmosphere” created by media trials had subverted the rule of law.
“An unhealthy atmosphere is being created by those third parties and the condescending media continues to spin yarns and stories,” Justice Bagchi said.
The court emphasized the need to control “atomized” social media so as not to undermine the fundamental right to a fair trial. Mr. Sankaranarayanan noted that “the problem today is everyone who has a mobile phone is a media person”.
“The problem with the media is that they feel it should be provocative, but when it is provocative, it kills the process itself…,” Justice Bagchi observed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta joined the debate in court and said social media also has a sinister side. He said there are virtual platforms that act as “blackmailers”. The chief justice agreed with Mr Mehta that such platforms were “another facet” of the digital arrest scam.
However, the court asked Mr. Sankaranarayanan to withdraw the application and file a more comprehensive application by April after examining the states’ compliance with the new police briefing manual. The manual was prepared by Mr. Sankaranarayanan as amicus curiae of the Supreme Court in a separate case filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, an NGO, as a step to create a “fundamental, rights-compatible and investigative safe framework” for police-media briefings.
In January, a committee headed by Justice MM Sundresh gave three months to implement the recommendations of the handbook, which outlines best practices for the police to follow when interacting with the media in ongoing investigations.
The manual, published on the Supreme Court’s website, emphasized the importance of police sharing only accurate, verified and necessary information with the public in the age of social media. This is essential to prevent the spread of misinformation that can undermine law and order and jeopardize the fairness of judicial proceedings.
Published – 20 March 2026 21:34 IST
