Behave, Supreme Court tells media

"Don't take the proceedings very lightly," the apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly said.

They made the remarks at the start of the hearing of a petition by Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata seeking to restrain the media from publishing the intercepted telephonic tapes of lobbyist Nira Radia.

The court took strong exception to the manner in which the media reported the court proceedings in the 2G spectrum case and in other matters.

The court said the way media reporting was tarnishing the image of people. The media should not cross the 'Lakshman Rekha', the judges said.

The court said all its queries in the course of proceedings were by the way of seeking clarifications and in no way were definitive observations. It is yet to give the final word in the matter, the judges said.

The court said while the media played the role of watchdog of democracy, it was crossing limits every day.

The court warned that if mediapersons did not understand the message being conveyed to them, they would be doing so at their own peril.