Media Trial and Right to Privacy

The media trial has been alleged to violate the Fundamental Right secured by Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of an individual. The argument supporting this says that during media trial, not only the suspects and accused but also the victims suffer from excessive publicity and invasion of their privacy rights. When the media unilaterally conducts a sting operation, it violates the privacy of another person and makes it liable for legal action. The right to privacy of an individual should be protected unless there is an identifiable large public interest.

Under the RTI act is also an exception under section 8 (1) (j), which exempts disclosure of any personal information which is not connected to any public activity or of public interest or which would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy of an individual. However, what constitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy is not defined. (Full article is here: Media Trial)