September 12, 2018

On Tuesday, Supreme Court enunciated that the Press should 'strike a balance' & 'draw a line' as Media Trial of Cases cannot be allowed. The statement came out while hearing the 'Muzaffarpur Shelter Home Case' in which several women were allegedly raped & abused. The apex court, which was dealing with a plea challenging a Patna High Court order restraining the media from reporting on the investigation into the Muzaffarpur shelter home case, said the issue was not "simple".

High Court had imposed a "Blanket Ban" on the Media in the particular case.

Apex Court has issued notices to Bihar Government and the CBI, which is probing the case, on the petition filled. It has asked for their replies by September 18 which is the next date of hearing of the case.

Bench has also informed that the High Court had passed an order for appointing a Lady Advocate as an 'amicus' in the pending case. It has asked her to visit the place where the 'alleged victims' were residing and interview them so that they can be rehabilitated.

Supreme Court stated that the direction that asked the 'amicus' to interview these Alleged Victims was "Totally in Conflict" with its previous order. It had asked the media not to interview these minor girls.

It is made clear by the bench that CBI should take the aid of Professional Counsellors and Qualified Child Psychiatrist to question them.

In returning the remark to a Senior Lawyer who proposed that there should not be any ban on the Media; it said,"we will see it on September 18."

Over 30 girls were allegedly raped at the shelter home run by Brajesh Thakur. The NGO is funded by the State Chief.  The alleged 'Sexual Exploitation' of the girls was first highlighted in an 'Audit Report' submitted by 'Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)' to the State's Social Welfare Department.

Petition was filed by a Patna-based Journalist through Advocate Fauzia Shakil challenging the High Court order of  restraining the Media.

Patna High Court had expressed disappointment over the 'Leak of Details' of the Investigation and asked the Media to abstain from publishing it as it could be harmful to the probe.

Petition filled in the Apex Court has said that due to the media intervention in the Muzaffarpur Case, boys at a Juvenile Home at Arrah in Bihar had collected the courage and complained to their Parents about the 'Physical and Sexual Abuse'.

Apex Court had took notice of the incident after a letter was written by Patna resident 'Ranvijay Kumar' highlighting the issue of repeated interviews of the 'Alleged Victims' of the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home being published and aired.

On May 31, an FIR was fired against 11 people, including Thakur. The probe has now been taken over by the CBI. The Sexual Abuse of 34 of the 42 inmates was confirmed in their Medical Examination.

The TISS Audit Report had said that many of the girls at the Shelter Home had complained of Sexual Abuse. A 'Special Investigation' team was formed to probe the complaints.

The NGO running the shelter home in Muzaffarpur was blacklisted and the girls were shifted to shelter homes in Patna and Madhubani. The arrest includes the Women Staff Members of the shelter home and Thakur in connection with the case.

Source: PTI

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