The Karnataka High Court has directed the Central Government to take action on Kannada actor Darshan's complaint against media houses for their coverage of his ongoing murder trial. The court observed that the media's portrayal of the trial amounted to a 'calculated, media-driven adjudication' that contravenes judicial norms and violates existing court injunctions. Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum noted that the media has been recreating courtroom proceedings, displaying the faces of the accused while masking the judge's identity. This practice, he stated, turns judicial proceedings into a 'public spectacle' and fosters prejudicial pre-trial publicity, undermining the principle of a fair trial. The court's ruling comes in response to Darshan's petition, which claimed that media outlets continued to broadcast confidential material despite injunctions prohibiting such actions. The court emphasized that while freedom of speech is vital, it should not devolve into media trials that threaten democracy. The ministries were instructed to review the complaint and take appropriate regulatory actions within six weeks.