Delhi Court Bans Reporting From Gang Rape Trial

Anindito Mukherjee/European Pressphoto Agency A police van believed to be transporting five of the six men accused in the Delhi gang rape case leaving the city court in Delhi on Monday.

A New Delhi court put a blanket ban on reporting the trial of the Delhi gang rape case on Monday, responding to a chaotic courtroom packed with news media and a large number of female lawyers who say no one should represent the accused.

‘‘The courtroom is jam-packed with a lot of disturbance from different nooks and corners,'' Metropolitan Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal said. ‘‘It has b ecome completely impossible to carry out proceedings in this manner.''

The magistrate, calling it an “unprecedented situation,” invoked an occasionally used statute, section 327 of India's criminal procedure code, which makes it illegal for anyone unconnected to a case to be in the courtroom during trial and makes it ‘‘unlawful for any person to print or publish any matter in relation to any such proceedings, except with the previous permission of the court.''

The statute makes it illegal for the news media to report on what happens in the courtroom, even if they receive that information from someone who is there. Generally in such situations, known as “in camera” trials, the court will issue an official statement for the media at the end of the day.

The chaos in the Saket courtroom came before five of the six accused in the Dec. 16 gang rape case appeared in court Monday. The case, and the punishment the men may rec eive, is being closely watched by lawyers, activists and citizens across India as a for the government's commitment to deliver justice to victims of sexual assault and violence.

The authorities have charged the men with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring the five adults the death penalty, The Associated Press reported. A sixth suspect, who is 17 years old, is expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.

On Sunday, two of the defendants offered to become ‘‘approvers,'' or informers against the others, according to reporters present at the hearing. The two were presumably seeking lighter sentences.

After the courtroom was cleared Monday, the five adults were brought in from a cell in the court complex, surrounded by police officers. They emerged from the court hall with their faces hidden with woolen caps.

The case has also stirred strong emotion among India's le gal community. The 13,000-member Saket Bar Association, which represents lawyers where the trial is being held, have vowed not to represent the accused, because of the nature of the crime. The suspects are accused of beating and raping a 23-year old woman repeatedly with an iron rod, and she died of her injuries two weeks later.

‘‘It is a heinous crime,'' said Rajpal Kasana, president of the bar association. ‘‘There was a good response from the members and they will not represent. The members are emotional about this case,'' he said.

‘‘Somebody has to represent them,'' he said, adding that if they don't engage private lawyers, they will be assigned representatives by the court from Legal Aid.

Dozens of female lawyers appeared in the New Delhi court on Monday, many of them vocally objecting to the accused's right to representation.

They scuffled with several lawyers who volunteered to represent the accused.

The volunteers included M anohar Lal Sharma, who practices in the Supreme Court and has filed numerous public interest litigations, against top public figures.

‘‘I am only concerned with the judicial system,'' Mr. Sharma said. ‘‘They should get a free and fair trial,'' he said.

Lawyers gathered outside the courthouse on Monday afternoon said they planned to try to overturn the ban on reporting the proceedings.