“It’s a red-letter day for freedom of the press in India and forThe Hindu,” N. Ram, Chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group, said in response to the Supreme Court judgment on publication of documents relating to the Rafale deal investigation.

“It is extremely significant that the Supreme Court of India says in the judgment written by the Chief Justice of India that our publication of the documents ‘reminds the Court’ of its own consistency in ‘upholding the freedom of the press in a long line of decisions from Romesh Thapar vs. State of Madras and Brij Bhushan vs. State of Delhi’.

“We hope this positive message goes down the line to all our courts, because freedom of the press has come under pressure and attack in India. The Supreme Court’s finding that ‘the right of such publication’, that is, publication of the Rafale deal documents by The Hindu, ‘would seem to be in consonance with the constitutional guarantee of speech’ should empower the pursuit of independent, investigative journalism by India’s press,” Mr. Ram said in a statement.

Read all investigative reports by N. Ram on the Rafale deal here.