What Rajkamal Jha said in Ramnath Goenka Award 2023?

02:20 PM Mar 23, 2023 IST | Ground Report

Indian Express editor-in-chief Raj Kamal Jha said for journalists and journalism, year after year, case after case, their starlight has illuminated the road ahead.

Speaking at the 16th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards held in Delhi, Raj Kamal Jha, dressed in his signature black with bright red socks, added some levity to his vote of thanks during an event where the honourable Chief Justice was present.

Jha joked, ‘We have the privilege of the presence of the honourable Chief Justice. And there is absolutely nothing in a sealed cover. This is a vote of thanks but in the times we live in, I want to say there will be no vote – there will just be thanks here.’

Jha went on to praise the CJI’s vision for a free press, affirming his faith that the Supreme Court would remain the North Star. He gave a nod to the CJI’s earlier use of the same turn of phrase during a speech in January.

According to Jha, ‘For journalists and journalism, year after year, case after case, their starlight has illuminated the road ahead. That’s why, when the lights dim, when a reporter is arrested under a law meant for terrorists, when another is arrested for asking a question, when a university teacher is picked up for sharing a cartoon, a college student for a speech, a film star for a comment, or when a rejoinder to a story comes in the form of a police FIR – we turn to the North Star for its guiding light.’