Jay Shah-The Wire case: There can't be gagging of press, says SC

"There cannot be gagging of the press," the Supreme Court observed today while asking Jay Shah, son of BJP president Amit Shah, and 'The Wire' to settle a civil defamation suit filed by the former against the news portal and its scribes.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, while referring to the apex court's verdict upholding the constitutional validity of the penal provisions on defamation law, asked the parties to amicably settle their dispute outside the court.

The bench also made it clear that on April 18, when it had asked Jay Shah, 'The Wire' and its scribes to settle the separate criminal defamation case, it had never referred to any "apology".

The bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, made the observation after the counsel representing the news portal said there was "no question" of any apology in the matter.

Besides filing a criminal defamation case against the news portal and its scribes, Jay Shah had also filed a civil defamation suit of Rs 100 crore against them after the article published by the news portal claimed that his firm's turnover grew exponentially after the BJP-led government had come to power at the Centre in 2014.

The apex court was hearing a plea challenging the Gujarat High Court order restoring a gag order against the news portal debarring it from publishing any article related to businesses of Jay Shah.

During the hearing today, the bench observed that the matter could come to an end by arriving at a settlement.

The CJI, while referring to the verdict on constitutional validity of penal provisions on defamation law, said that "as far as restraining the press is concerned, we have many a times said 'no'. There cannot be gagging of press."