Chief Justice Demands Public Apology in Prominent Placement, Warns of Contempt Notice for Non-Compliance
The Gujarat High Court has directed the editors of *The Times of India* and *The Indian Express* to publish public apologies in their newspapers for misreporting the Court’s observations. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi expressed dissatisfaction with the apologies submitted by the newspapers in their affidavits, deeming them insufficient and not unconditional.
“We are not accepting this kind of apology… This is not an unconditional apology. This is first justification and then apology… We want a public apology that clearly reflects the mistake made by the newspaper reporter and editor, and a commitment not to repeat such errors,” Chief Justice Agarwal stated during the hearing.
The Court emphasized that the apologies must be published prominently, in the middle column of the front page, in bold letters, and must explicitly acknowledge that the published statements were incorrect. “You wrote this article for the public; the public should know you were mistaken. Apologizing to us privately is not enough,” the Chief Justice remarked.
The Court warned that failure to comply with the order would result in a contempt of court notice being issued against the newspapers.
Commenting on the nature of misreporting, the Court highlighted that such actions could lead to widespread confusion and difficulty, even for advocates involved in the case. Chief Justice Agarwal also noted that the inaccurate reporting appeared to be a coordinated effort, as similar reports were published by three different newspapers with identical content, differing only in language.
Previously, on August 13, the Court had issued notices to the Ahmedabad editors of *The Times of India*, *The Indian Express*, and *Divya Bhaskar* for providing a ‘false and distorted narration’ of court proceedings related to the rights of aided minority institutions. On Thursday, as no representation was made on behalf of *Divya Bhaskar*, the Court issued a contempt of court notice to its editors, directing them to respond within two days.
Senior Advocate Devang Nanvati represented both newspapers in the case, with Advocate SP Majmudar appearing for *The Indian Express* and Advocate Garima Malhotra for *The Times of India*.
(With inputs from agency)
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