The Madras high court on Friday restrained media outlets from publishing or broadcasting videos in connection with the Pocso act case against granite baron R Veeramani, observing that premature publication of such material could “deter other child victims from coming forward”.
The court noted that the investigation remained at a crucial stage, with the police examining whether there were more victims. The court made the observations while hearing a plea filed by an NGO, Tulir, seeking a John Doe order against those circulating the material. It directed news outlets and websites to show restraint but declined to pass a blanket order. The two other accused, Mahendra Simhan and his wife Shanti, were caretakers of the house. The Tamil Nadu government has formed an all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter. The state informed the court that police had begun identifying those responsible for leaking the videos and assured the court that the leak had not originated from the police. Noting that some of the material was already available online, the police had approached Google and Meta seeking its removal, it added.
Veeramani and two of his aides were arrested on August 28 this year, following an investigation into allegations that minor girls had been sexually assaulted at a private residence in Chennai’s Teynampet area.
It also referred to the “2008 Mumbai terror attack”, observing that “constant media reporting of the steps being taken by Indian defence forces had helped the terrorists evade them. The Police said the case followed the receipt of a USB drive containing video clips allegedly showing Veeramani sexually assaulting juvenile girls. The SIT team would comprise additional commissioner of police (Central Crime Branch) P C Thenmozhi, joint commissioner (West Zone) Disha Mittal, superintendent of police J Mutharasi and deputy commissioner of police, (crime against women and children) V V Geethanjali, the government said. The high court directed the SIT to “issue a press release once every week” informing the public about the steps taken in the investigation.
“Publishing it prematurely is going to have a chilling effect on the other victims…If it is going to be published and debated, if I were the victim, I wouldn’t have the gall to come for investigation. You can have debates on the issue. It should be debated. But can’t you debate without circulation? Whether he is guilty or not should be decided by the courts. It’s not for the media to decide. Let the children be kept safe.
There is something more important in life than TRP ratings,” the court said. Whether Veeramani had committed the alleged offences, the court said, was for courts to decide. ”There cannot be a trial by the media. Please show some sensitivity,” the bench said.
In a separate but related hearing, a bench of chief justice SA Dharmadhikari and justice G Arul Murugan agreed to hear a plea seeking a CBI probe into the case.
It said the footage could enable people familiar with the circumstances to identify the children even if their names were not disclosed.
