Vacating an interim injunction granted in Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd v HT Media Ltd & Ors, a single judge of Delhi High Court recently held that the “analysis of the CAG Report as it stands in the public domain and expression of the opinion thereon cannot be construed to mean there would be an intrusion in the proceedings or domain of the parliamentary process”.
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Delhi International Airport (DIAL) had sought a permanent injunction against HT Media, which owns the Hindustan Times, to stop it from using a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) as the basis of articles to be published. The report was on the implementation of a public-private partnership for the redevelopment of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, which was undertaken by DIAL.
Reports by the CAG are debated in parliament and DIAL had argued that the publication of any articles based on the report would “pre-judge the entire issue”. DIAL alleged that a questionnaire it had received from HT Media showed that a prospective article was going to discuss the merits of various issues pending consideration before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament and that this would interfere with the work of committee.
HT Media sought vacation of the interim order, contending that the information relating to the CAG report and its analysis was already available in the public domain.
The court held that while the rules of procedure of parliament required proceedings before the PAC to be kept confidential, the questions or concerns which may arise while analysing the report could be discussed. The court also imposed a fine of ₹20,000 (US$330) on DIAL for not disclosing the facts of a pending writ petition before the high court and not providing details of all articles published on the CAG report.
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The update of court judgments is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.
