New Delhi:

The media must confine themselves to honest journalism and not use it as a tool to expand their influence and business interests, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said on Tuesday.

NV Ramana said a media house with “other business interests” becomes vulnerable to outside pressure and often business interests take precedence over the spirit of independent journalism, which compromises democracy.

The CJI – a former journalist – claimed that independent journalism is the “backbone of democracy” and also urged stakeholders to consider why the standards here are not considered good enough for international recognition and laurels in the field of journalism.

He spoke at the launch of Gulab Chand Kothari’s book entitled The Gita Vijnana Upanishad. Lok Sabha spokesman Om Birla presided over the event. Last week, the CJI had expressed similar concerns, saying that “hot-button debates” and “kangaroo courts” run by the media were detrimental to the health of democracy.

These latest comments by CJI Ramana take on significance following backlash over a ruling earlier this month over former BJP spokesman Nupur Sharma’s comments on the Prophet Mohammad, which the Supreme Court said have fueled communal tensions across the country.

“When a media house has other business interests, it becomes vulnerable to outside pressure. Business interests often outweigh the spirit of independent journalism. This puts democracy at risk,” CJI Ramana said Tuesday.

“Journalists are people’s eyes and ears. It is the responsibility of the media houses to present facts. Especially in the Indian society scenario, people still believe that whatever is printed is true. I just want to say that the media must confine themselves to honest journalism without using it as a tool to expand their influence and business interests,” he said.

While acknowledging the presence of “journalists who are equally enthralled by today’s media,” the country’s top judge noted that it is deeply demoralizing when a brilliant story submitted by a journalist is killed at the desk.

He said a media house’s “true nature” would be assessed and appropriate conclusions drawn from its behavior during testing times, recalling that “only media houses with no business baggage were able to fight for democracy in the dark days of the state of emergency battle”.

CJI Ramana also said there is no “systemic support” for journalists in the country, nor is there an award comparable to the Pulitzer or “many Pulitzer Prize winners.”

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)