The Special Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court hearing the Ayodhya title suits today asked the media to publish or telecast a fair and accurate report of the hearing and not report any matter pending for adjudication before the court.The special full bench of the high court said the electronic media should not interview any person in regard to the merit of the case and should also not express its opinion in any form which can be misleading.The order was passed by the special full bench comprising Justice Sudhir Narain, Justice S.R. Alam and Justice Bhanwar Singh on the application filed by National Union of Journalists (India) organising secretary M.D. Gangwar, in a title suit of Sunni Central Board of Waqf and others.It was further observed that the report about the court’s order should be made after obtaining the true copy of the order and the head note of the reporting should not be misleading. The court restrained to reproduce the statement of witness as it was to be scrutinised and assessed by the court. The press could only report as to which person appeared in the court as witness. Opp, Govt lock horns in Lok Sabha over PM’s Himachal speech NEW DELHI: The Opposition in Lok Sabha took exception to the remark by PM A.B. Vajpayee saying that there was historical evidence which would prove a Ram temple had existed at the disputed site at Ayodhya. Vajpayee had said this during his election campaign in Himachal on Thursday. Samajwadi Party MP, Ramji Lal Suman, who raised the issue during zero hour, said the Prime Minister had made the statement to play the ‘‘Hindutva card’’ and ‘‘communalise’’ the atmopshere to win the elections. Responding to the criticism, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that she had spoken to the PM on the matter and that the PM had categorically stated in his speech that ‘‘We will abide by the court verdict on the Ayodhya issue,’’ she said. Outside, Atal’s temple reference draws flak from Cong, Left NEW DELHI: Taking objection to the raising of the Ayodhya issue by PM A.B. Vajpayee at an election rally in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress said he has committed an offence against the Constitution of India and downgraded his office. Alleging that the PM was biased in the matter, Cong spokesperson S. Jaipal Reddy said Vajpayee did not remember on Thursday that he was the Prime Minister. ‘‘Any person holding the office of the Prime Minister does not belong to any religious or social group, but belongs to every citizen and person,’’ he said. Joining the issue, the Left Parties on Friday said he was trying to influence the judiciary by stating that there was historical evidence of a temple in the disputed site. ‘‘The PM’s entire election campaign (in Himachal) is based on communalism. First he says there is evidence of temple on the site, which is meant to influence the judiciary, then he says everyone should abide by the court verdict,’’ said CPI-M Lok Sabha leader Somnath Chatterjee . (ENS)
