Anna univ rape: HC restrains SIT from harassing journos

THE Madras High Court on Tuesday restrained the Tamil Nadu police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) from harassing journalists by issuing repeated summons, grilling them with unnecessary questions about their families and seizing their electronic devices — including mobile phones — in connection with the case over the leaking of the FIR in the sexual assault of a student inside the Anna University campus.

- R SIVAKUMAR @Chennai

THE Madras High Court on Tuesday restrained the Tamil Nadu police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) from harassing journalists by issuing repeated summons, grilling them with unnecessary questions about their families and seizing their electronic devices — including mobile phones — in connection with the case over the leaking of the FIR in the sexual assault of a student inside the Anna University campus.

The HC ordered the SIT to return the seized electronic devices while directing the journalists to cooperate with the investigations. The court also questioned why the SIT has not examined the police officers responsible for registering the FIR and uploading it to the official website.

Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan passed the orders while hearing a batch of petitions filed by the affected journalists, belonging to mainstream television channels and a newspaper.