A 23-year-old case concerning the arrest of certain journalists—following a breach of privilege motion passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly—may soon be closed by a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court.
What initially appeared to be a legal battle between media freedom of expression and the scope of legislative privilege now seems to have become a mere formality for the record.
**Hearing on the 23-Year-Old Case**
A seven-judge bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justices Arvind Kumar, Prashant Kumar Mishra, Joymalya Bagchi, Vipul M. Pancholi, Shree Chandrashekhar, and V. Mohana is hearing petitions filed by N. Ravi and S. Selvam, the then-editors of *The Hindu* and *Murasoli* newspapers, respectively. Arrest warrants had been issued against both editors and certain journalists following an Assembly resolution dated November 7, 2003. CJI Surya Kant stated that the seven-judge bench would convene on Tuesday to take the 2004 resolution on record and dispose of the petitions.
Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran appeared on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, accompanied by Attorney General R. Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
He informed the bench—comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana—that the basis for the writ petition no longer existed and the issue had become merely academic, as the Assembly had withdrawn the 2004 resolution that had imposed a 15-day sentence on the journalists.
