Justice Markandey Katju on Fake News in Indian Media and the London Judges Controversy
- Fake News and the Indian Media: Justice Katju Questions Journalistic Responsibility
- The London Badminton Controversy: Justice Markandey Katju's Critique of Indian Media
How Fake News Spread About Indian Judges: Justice Katju's Analysis of Media Ethics
Justice Markandey Katju examines fake news in Indian media, using the London judges' badminton controversy to discuss media ethics, fact-checking, and journalism
The Indian media and its love for fake news
By Justice Markandy Katju
The basic duty of the media is to convey correct news to the people about events in the country and in the world. Obviously people cannot go around everywhere collecting news. Yet they want to know and be enlightened. So the media supplies them information, thereby fulfilling a vital role in educating people.
Journalists must, however, give to the people the correct facts and information, and not twist or falsify them.
Unfortunately, what has been witnessed in recent years is that the Indian media often conveys to the people fake or distorted news. One reason for this is the desire in most journalists to sensationalize or serve 'mirch masaala' to the public, which raises their rating and circulation.
A glaring example of this is a fake news which recently went viral, and which reveals an utter lack of a sense of responsibility in most of the Indian media. This 'news' was that a large number of Judges of the Indian Supreme Court and High Courts ( the earlier number given was 150, but it was later raised to 750 ) went to London to play badminton at the expense of the Indian Government.
Thus, in the Hindi portal satyahindi.com, journalist Sharad Pradhan spoke of 'Sarkaari kharch par aish', and dished out patently fake news that many Judges went to London to play badminton.
Another journalist on the same portal, which thrives on sensations, did the same.
Was it not Sharad Pradhan's duty and also of other so called journalists to have checked out and verified whether the 'news' was correct or not ? But no, most Indian journalists nowadays ( why blame poor Pradhan alone ) do not think that is their duty. Their duty is only to create sensations, so that the circulation and TRP rating increases, thereby enabling the owner to make more money.
What was surprising was that Prashant Bhushan, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, and therefore expected to be circumspect, jumped the gun, and never enquired what was the source of the information, and whether the news was correct, but took it for granted that it was correct, and went ahead berating the 'errant' and 'delinquent' judges in right earnest.
The journalist Neelu Vyas, who is fond of sensationalism, as evidently that helps her make a lot of money, shamelessly peddled a similar lie that 75 Indian Judges went to London recently to play badminton.
I spoke to many Supreme Court and High Court Judges about this, and was told it was absolutely fake news. No Judge of the Supreme Court went to London to play badminton ( though the Chief Justice of India went to London to deliver a talk in London University ).
I also made enquiries about Delhi and Allahabad High Courts, and was told that no Judge from those High Courts ( except 2 Judges of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court who are keen badminton players ) went to London to play badminton.
Justice Vikram Nath, the second seniormost Judge in the Supreme Court ( after the CJI Suryakant, whose successor as CJI he will be next February ) told me when I called him on whatsapp a short while back that last year i.e. in 2025 there was a badminton match in Delhi ( not in London ) between the bench and the bar. Videos and pictures of that match played last year are being shown today by our media, as if they are of a badminton match played in London recently.
But a PIB fact check has revealed the truth
Shame on the Indian media !
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chairman of the Press Council of India. These are his personal views.)
