New Delhi, March 23 -- In a scathing critique of the state of press freedom in India, retired Justice S Muralidhar delivered the B G Verghese Memorial Lecture at the India International Centre in New Delhi.

His lecture, titled, 'Media, Courts, and Freedom of Expression,' challenged the government's claims of a "robust and flourishing press," citing international indices and specific instances of state overreach.

Justice Muralidhar began by referencing the 2024 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, which ranked India 159th out of 180 countries.

He dismissed the Union I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnav's dismissal of the RSF report as unreliable, stating that the minister's claims of increased registered newspapers and sa...