TV debate on court matters amounts to interference: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has observed that all matters connected with a crime and whether something is a "conclusive piece of evidence" must be dealt with by a court of law, and not through a TV channel.

A bench of Justices UU Lalit and PS Narasimha said: "All matters relating to the crime and whether a particular thing happens to be a conclusive piece of evidence must be dealt with by a court of law and not through a TV channel. If at all, there was a voluntary statement, the matter would be dealt with by the court of law."

"In the process, a confession of an accused which is otherwise hit by the principles of Evidence Act finds its place on record. Such kind of statements may have a direct tendency to influence and prejudice the mind of the court. This practice must immediately be stopped. In the present case, the trial court not only extracted the entire statements but also relied upon them," it held. The bench said if at all the accused were desirous of making confessions, the investigating machinery could have facilitated recording of confession by producing them before a magistrate for appropriate action in terms of Section 164 of the Code.