Contempt of Courts Act : Publication of information relating to proceedings in chambers or incamera

Contempt of Courts Act,1971

Act No : 70

Section : Publication of information relating to proceedings in chambers or incamera not contempt except in certain cases.

7.Publication of information relating to proceedings in chambers or in camera not contempt except in certain cases.(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, a person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for publishing a fair and a accurate report of a judicial proceeding before any court sitting in chambers or in camera except in the following cases, that is to say,- (a) where the publication is contrary to the provisions of any enactment for the time being in force; (b) where the court, on grounds of public policy or in exercise of any power vested in it, expressly prohibits the publication of all information relating to the proceeding or of information of the description which is published; 150 (c) where the court sits in chambers or in camera for reasons connected with public order or the security of the State, the publication of information relating to those proceedings ; (d) where the information relates to a secret process, discovery or invention which is an issue in the proceedings. (2) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), a person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for publishing the text or a fair and accurate summary of the whole, or any part, of an order made by a court sitting in chambers or in camera, unless the court has expressly prohibited the publication thereof on grounds of public policy, or for reasons connected with public order or the security of the State, or on the ground that it contains information relating to a secret process, discovery or invention, or in exercise of any power vested in it.

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Prakash Yedhula wrote on 03 May 2009

The press reporter and the publisher of newspapers do not have any indefeasible right to put his own gloss on the statements in court by selecting stray passages out of context which might have a tendency to convey to the reader to the prejudice of a party to the proceedings a cause different from what would appear when the statement is read in its own context.—Progressive Port and Dock Workers Union v. K.M. Mathew 1984 CrLJ 1061

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