Journalistic licence is not absolute but is subject to certain reasonable restrictions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused a plea made by Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami to transfer the Mumbai police probe into his broadcasts concerning Palghar mob lynching and Bandra station fiasco to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while extending his protection from arrest by another three weeks.
A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said that though freedom of Press to speak truth to power ensures free people and nation, journalistic licence was not absolute but subject to certain reasonable restrictions.
India’s freedom of Press stays as long as journalists can speak truth to power but this freedom is not absolute… Free citizens cannot exist if news media cant speak… Questions you cannot answer are better than answers you cannot question, the court observed.
The court confirmed its interim order on April 24 to transfer from Nagpur to Mumbai an FIR registered against Mr. Goswami accusing him of spreading hate through his April 21 broadcast. It said the Mumbai police investigation into the FIR would continue. The court said the power of the court to take away ongoing investigations from the State police and give it to the CBI, a probe agency under the Centre, should be exercised sparingly.
The court quashed subsequent complaints and FIRs, except the one being probed by the Mumbai police, in other States. It found them all identically worded. The court said no further complaints or FIRs should be entertained on the basis of the broadcast made by Mr. Goswami on April 21.
On May 11, while reserving the case for judgment, the Supreme Court had noted that a balance should be struck between the right to free speech and the polices duty to conduct investigation without fear or favour.
We must ensure somebody is not subject to harassment but we should not create an environment where anybody in particular is exempted from the normal course of proceedings, the Bench observed orally then.