Calcutta HC chief justice refuses to 'rein in' media

A day after sharing her observations on West Bengal’s poor investment climate in open court, Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Manjula Chellur rejected the public prosecutor’s request to rein in the media over coverage of her comments.

While state counsel Pranab Dutta mentioned before the court that the media had misquoted the court’s observation during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation case related to a chit fund company before the Chief Justice’s Division Bench on Tuesday, Justice Chellur refused to interfere with the freedom of the press. “There is freedom of press in our country. I won't issue any notice to the media,” Chief Justice Chellur said.

Although her observation did not seem related to the PIL on the chit fund scam she was hearing on Tuesday, the chief justice stated in open court: “Who will come to invest crores of rupees in this atmosphere? Investors from Kerala and Karnataka will not come. I know their mentality. I was in Telangana last week. I know that if someone wants to invest in Telangana, he will be escorted from the airport to the chief minister’s office there and provided all assistance to set up industry there.”