Meanwhile, the police in its reply before the High Court

said, "There is no illegality in the Delhi Police advising media in respect of the section 327 (2) and (3) as the said provision have been held to be mandatory... "The said advisory was issued as a measures of courtesy to the media as violation of the provisions of sections 327 (2) and (3) CrPC would necessarily require the police to register FIR" under the IPC, the police said. The court was hearing a plea filed by legal journalists, saying their "fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression" was being violated. "The right as responsible media reporters are being violated," said the plea against the advisory issued by the police to the media. The plea, filed through advocate Meenakshi Lekhi, said, "The role of the police in the case is under suspicion from the day one, and passing a gag order (by trial judge) and advisory of the police will come in the way of a fair trial. Media should be allowed so that the people in the country could get to know what is going on behind the closed doors." The 23-year-old victim was raped in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16 last. She died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.