Senior Advocate J Sai Deepak criticised Bar and Bench for its “sly” coverage of a Supreme Court murder case, asking, “Is this how legal journalism should be conducted?” after the portal highlighted a minor courtroom exchange.
Senior Advocate J Sai Deepak criticized the legal portal “Bar and Bench” for what he describes as “sly journalism” regarding their coverage of a case involving the tragic murder of a 24-year-old.
He addressed his concerns about the portal’s recent “pedestrian” and disingenuous reporting of a Supreme Court hearing on his X and LinkedIn accounts.
Deepak mentioned that he represented the brother of the murdered young man, stating,
“Instead of focusing on the gravity of the case, Bar and Bench sensationalised a minor exchange between the Bench and I during the hearing over non-fatal typos in the translated FIR, for which I quickly apologized to the Bench on behalf of the counsels on record.”
He pointed out that minor documentation errors are commonplace due to human oversight, asserting that Bar and Bench is aware of these realities yet chose to engage in misleading journalism.
He stated on social media,
“In any case, the typos in the translated documents were not remotely critical or fatal. The young counsels on record had done a fabulous job of putting together the case and had come thoroughly prepared with the facts and the law. What Bar and Bench conveniently left out of their clever by half ‘reportage’ was the fact that after my submissions, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Investigating Officer in the case with the direction to place on record the CCTV footage capturing the murder of the boy,”
Deepak also mentioned that he would share the order once it is uploaded, allowing people to compare its contents with what was reported by Bar and Bench.
The senior lawyer added,
“If it has an axe to grind with me ideologically, it can take it up with me in cases where ideology is involved, and I am single-handedly capable of giving it back with interest. But surely they don’t need to indulge in bad faith reportage in a case involving a young boy’s murder just because I appear for the deceased’s brother. Or is it too much to expect class, dignity and civility in ideological disagreement, and responsibility in reportage from Bar and Bench?”
He also added,
I guess some things can’t be taught. Either you have them or you don’t. I have been in the profession long enough and earned my stripes to weather such behavior and the Bar & the Bench know what I bring to the Court – value & impact,”
He has also decided to bring this matter to the Court’s attention, leaving it to the Court to determine the standards of legal journalism.
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