The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (Feb 19) dismissed a plea seeking directions to print, electronic media to use words —“Shaheed”, “Martyr” in place of “killed” —as brave soldiers are never “killed”.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao also rebuked the petitioner and advocate Abhishek Choudhury for submitting the misleading plea on the same ground which was already disposed of by another bench in October 2016.

“That the Petitioner, just like the other Indian citizens, saw in today’s newspapers that the major newspapers have totally failed to reflect the respect/ sensitivity to the martyrdom of the soldiers and have negligently or by oversight or by getting overwhelmed due the gravity of the situation, carelessly used the words “killed”/”Died” in place of “Martyr” or “Shaheed” which clearly shakes the emotions of the Petitioners herein and the country’s citizens as a whole…” the petitioner had said in the plea.

The plea was filed after the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed on Feb 14.

—India Legal Bureau