The Madras High Court Friday restrained media outlets and social media platforms from publishing, broadcasting or circulating videos connected with the POCSO case involving granite baron R Veeramani, warning that dissemination of such sensitive material could have a “chilling effect” on other child victims and discourage them from coming forward. Justice V Lakshminarayanan said the case could be debated in public, but the privacy and safety of children could not be compromised in the pursuit of television ratings or public attention.
The interim directions came on a petition filed by Tulir Charitable Trust, an organisation working with survivors of child sexual abuse, after video material purportedly connected with the investigation surfaced in the public domain. The court stressed that Veeramani’s guilt or innocence would have to be determined through the judicial process and cautioned against allowing the criminal case to become a media trial.
‘Let the children be safe’
“There is something more important in life than TRP ratings,” the court observed while considering the consequences of circulating videos allegedly involving minor victims. Justice Lakshminarayanan said premature publication could deter other children from cooperating with investigators at a time when police were examining whether there were more victims in the case.
The court made a distinction between reporting on the investigation and circulating the underlying explicit material. It said media organisations could debate the issues arising from the case, but could not telecast or circulate the videos involving the alleged victims, and urged sensitivity while dealing with material capable of exposing their identities.
The judge also cautioned against pronouncing upon the culpability of the accused before trial. Whether Veeramani committed the alleged offences was for the courts to decide, he said, stressing that there “cannot be a trial by the media”.
SIT told to issue weekly update
Seeking to balance the public’s right to information with the privacy of the children, the High Court directed the all-woman Special Investigation Team constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to issue a press release every week detailing the progress of the investigation. The arrangement would allow information about the probe to enter the public domain without requiring the publication of material involving the alleged victims.
The state told the court that investigators had begun examining how the sensitive videos were leaked and maintained that the leak had not originated from the police. With some of the material already circulating online, authorities had also approached Google and Meta seeking its removal.
The High Court directed the respondents, including media organisations named in the petition, to file their counter-affidavits and posted the matter for further hearing on September 30. While issuing the interim restraint, the court stopped short of granting a blanket order against all reporting on the case.
NGO sought removal of footage
Tulir had approached the court seeking a John Doe order against persons and organisations circulating the material. Its petition sought removal of videos, clips, screenshots and other derivatives connected with the alleged sexual abuse, arguing that their continued availability threatened the privacy, dignity and safety of the children.
The organisation argued that merely withholding the names of the alleged victims would not necessarily protect them. Images, videos and contextual information could allow people familiar with the circumstances to identify the children, it submitted, making restrictions on the circulation of the underlying material necessary.
The petition followed reports that footage linked to the investigation had been broadcast or circulated by some media organisations. It also raised questions about how material forming part of a highly sensitive criminal investigation entered the public domain.
Probe widened after arrests
Veeramani and two of his aides were arrested in August after the investigation into allegations of sexual offences against minor girls gathered pace. Police had received a USB drive containing video clips purportedly showing sexual abuse, while subsequent investigation widened the scope of the case and led authorities to examine whether there were additional victims.
The Tamil Nadu government later constituted a four-member all-woman SIT to investigate the case and related issues. The team comprises senior police officers and has also been examining the handling of the investigation at its earlier stages.
In a separate proceeding Friday, a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice S A Dharmadhikari agreed to consider a petition seeking transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The development came as the Veeramani case increasingly became both a major criminal investigation and a political flashpoint in Tamil Nadu.