Media Trials Derail Justice

After 7 long years justice was done in the Jessica murder case. The rich and influential criminals were duly sentenced and that was all because of the media. Every year there are thousands of victims that are helped by the media. Media channels have substituted for governance in investigation of crimes including corruption, in the hounding of criminals and politicians who may have committed crimes, in forcing impartial police investigation, in pushing for an unbiased judicial process and speedy sentencing. This has mobilized public opinion.

Media has made national events of the battle of civil society against corruption, like the struggle for the lok pal bill, Anna Hazare’s agitation, and the flamboyant Baba Ramdev’s Ramlila grounds frenzy. Without the media these events would not have attracted national attention. We cannot forget Nirbhaya’s rape case in which media played a crucial role in setting up quick trials and ensuring that the criminals were tried and jailed as soon as possible. Media has helped create public sentiment in many instances.

In a society where it’s not rare to see judicial unfairness like the deliberate lethargic pace of the prosecution or frequent adjournments occasioned by absence of the public prosecutors, it hardly comes as a surprise that people have lost trust in the judiciary and seek media supervision to get justice. It acts as a support pillar for the people when they are fighting against an enormously powerful opponent like what happened in the Asaram Bapu’s case. There are numerous cases where if media’s intervention would not have been there, so many victims would not have.

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