Conflict between media and lawyers: Pinarai to wait for outcome of meeting called by CJ

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan told the Assembly on Monday that if any action from the government is needed to resolve the standoff between journalists and lawyers, that could be done.

However, the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court had called for a meeting of representatives of the bar and the media to resolve the issue on September 29. “Let us wait for the outcome,” he said in response to a submission made by V. D. Satheesan (Congress).

The Chief Minister said that there was tension between lawyers and media at several courts including the High Court in Kerala. However, the Registrar of High Court had stated that there was no bar on journalists entering court premises or reporting court proceedings.

Mr. Vijayan said that though the Director General of Police and Advocate General had held discussions with journalists and the advocates, the issue remained unresolved.

Mr. Satheesan said that the the Chief Minister should take the lead to resolve the issue. It was the government’s responsibility to address the issue.

Reporting of comments made by judges in court by the media had badly affected the previous government. So, there was talk that the present government wanted to avoid such a situation (and hence was not taking the initiative to resolve the issue), he said.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists staged a protest outside the Assembly demanding that media rooms in court premises should be reopened to ensure transparency in court proceedings.