TRP Channelized Parallel Judgment: An Intervention in Judicial Process

Abstract

There are several issues ahead of the Indian Judicial System to make the bridge between the righteous
decision and its acceptance by the country as well. One of the most challenging issues in recent days
for the Indian judiciary is trial by media. Over the past fifteen years, the dominance of print media in
the journalism industry has only increased. With the enormous development of information
technology, the number of television channels and social media is increased. With the increase in
television channels, competition for the Target Rating Point (TRP), the involvement of the media in
the judicial process is increasing, as it is being debated and discussed with guests in the name of debate
on pending sensational cases. The Supreme Court of India and the State High Courts have issued
various orders not to investigate the pending cases and not do a trial by media. There are several
incidences when the case under trial got parallel judgment by the people through the media point of
view. Media hold the great power to channelize the people mindset and perspective for a particular
case which sometimes outbreaks as the interference to judicial judgments. It was tried several times to
scrutinize the authority of media in cases that are under trial but the results are not satisfactory as
mostly it is considered against the public sentiments. Neutral reporting can solve the issue to a
satisfactory extent. We considered that point as well. Our paper deals with the detailed analysis of
several judgments with media connection.