HC declines to consider plea to restrain 'media trial' of wrestler Sushil Kumar

The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to consider a plea to restrain the media from sensationalising criminal proceedings initiated against Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old wrestler.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said Kumar is a "vigilant person" and the court cannot entertain a PIL on his behalf.

"Let that man come. We see no reason to entertain litigation on behalf of a vigilant person," the bench said.

The plea was filed by a law student, Shrikant Prasad.

It was contended in the petition that Kumar’s career and reputation were tarnished by sensational media reporting against him in connection with the Chhatrasal Stadium brawl that led to the death of a wrestler.

On Thursday, a video grab also surfaced and played out by the media wherein Kumar was purportedly shown beating the deceased with a stick.

Also read: Video surfaces on social media purportedly showing Sushil Kumar, associates thrashing man

According to the plea, the excessive publicity of the suspect in the media before the trial in a court of law, either incriminates a fair trial or results in characterising the suspect as the one who has certainly committed the crime. This amounts to undue interference with the "administration of justice”, it claimed.

The media has now transformed itself into “janta adalats” or “public courts” and has started intervening in the proceedings of the court. The vital gap between a convict and an accused is completely overlooked by the media which disregards the cardinal principles of ‘presumption of innocence until proven guilty’ and ‘guilt beyond reasonable doubt’ in its reporting, it claimed.

The Delhi police claimed Kumar and his associates allegedly assaulted fellow wrestler Sagar Dhankar and his two friends Sonu and Amit Kumar at the stadium on May 4 night over a dispute related to monetary transaction. Dhankar succumbed to his injuries later.

Also read: Wrestler murder case: 4 associates of Olympian Sushil Kumar sent to 4-day police custody

The Delhi Police have filed an FIR under Sections 302 (murder), 308 (culpable homicide), 365 (kidnapping), 325 (causing grievous hurt), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

They have also included Sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of IPC and various sections under the Arms Act.