There should be more activism by SC: Ex-judge Lokur flags issues of freedom

While assaults on press freedom continue in India, there have also been some instances of violation of the citizens' fundamental rights, former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur noted on Friday, saying the apex court should be alert to such cases.

Referring to some recent cases, Justice (retired) Lokur also noted that getting released from jail on bail has been difficult for some people and said there should be "more activism" on the part of the Supreme Court when it comes to the issue of personal liberty.

Justice Lokur was addressing an event organised to present the prestigious IPI-India award for excellence in journalism.

Former chief justice of India UU Lait and Justice Lokur, who was the chairperson of the jury, presented the award to news portal "The Print" and NDTV's journalist Saurabh Shukla. The Print's editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta received the award on behalf of the portal.

"Between the last award ceremony and the present one, there has been one area where change has taken place. The quality of journalism has improved. The area where no change has taken place is a little troubling and that is assault on the freedom of press," Justice Lokur said.

"I think that is still continuing and it does not seem to be ending," he added.

Raising the issue of violation of the citizens' right to personal liberty, Justice Lokur said, "We have a journalist prevented from going abroad, a journalist from Manipur detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. We also had a journalist who got bail but took two months to verify his sureties."

"Bail has been difficult to obtain for some people," he pointed out.

These are areas where courts need to be "far more active" when the "whole purpose" of police is to keep people in detention, Justice Lokur said.

Courts have to be alert to the cases of violation of fundamental rights and do something about it, he said.

"Personal liberty is the most cherished aspect of our fundamental rights. And there is an obligation on the State to protect our personal liberty, not to deprive us from our personal liberty," the former Supreme Court judge said.

It is also the obligation of the courts that they "step in" where there is a violation of fundamental rights, he added.

"There should be more activism on the part of the Supreme Court when it comes to the issue of personal liberty," Justice Lokur said.

Without naming anyone, he also expressed concern over the "debunking" of a report coming from "some" foreign agency.

"We get information from some agency outside. They come out with a report on a particular topic but it gets debunked for a variety of reasons. One (reason) could be the methodology used by the organisation, other that not enough research has been done, sometimes it is just castigated as being anti-national," he said.

"On one hand, we have the absence of information coming in and on the other, we have information coming in from sources outside the country. So it is the people of India who are suffering on both counts. I think it needs to be looked into," Justice Lokur said.

Addressing the gathering, former CJI Lalit talked about how freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak had defended himself in a court when the charge of sedition was levelled against him by the British rulers, yet he was convicted and sentenced to six years of imprisonment.

"You (journalists) are the sentinels of the society. I cannot say anything more beyond this," he said.

Justice Lokur exhorted the media to "talk about" the key issues facing the country today, such as unemployment, saying silence will not help.

He also exhorted journalists to fight the "battle" against attacks on the freedom of press "courageously".

"We have enough journalists who have the courage to speak up. The idea is that you have to stand up so that the fundamental right of freedom of speech remains intact," the former apex court judge said.