SC to hear Tablighi Jamaat media coverage issue after 2 weeks

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred for two weeks hearing on the petition seeking directions to curb media coverage on the spread of coronavirus due to the congregation at Markaz Tablighi Jammat in Nizamuddin last month.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde asked the petitioner to approach the Press Council of India for redressal of his grievances.

"We want to take solid and long term measures. We are not going to pass any interim order at this stage," CJI Bobde said.

"They (the media) is communalizing the entire issue," advocate Ezaz Maqbool said arguing for the petition.

The petition sought directions to curb media coverage on the issue claiming that such reporting was triggering religious hatred and said that the state had failed to check this communalization.

Notably, the Nizamuddin congregation has become the epicenter for the spread of coronavirus, with several who attended the event testing positive for COVID-19 across the country and infecting hundreds of others.