A blanket of secrecy surrounds the death of an Auckland man after police sought an urgent ruling from a coroner to suppress all details of his identity.Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave, acting as the national duty coroner, granted an interim non-publication order prohibiting publication of the man's identity as well as the gang they were associated with. The man's death is currently at the centre of a police investigation.Media were not informed of the application, which was granted on Monday afternoon in chambers on the papers, or given an opportunity to oppose the non-publication order.In making the order, which was sought by police, Schmidt-McCleave said the public interest in knowing the man's name "does not, on the information currently before me, appear to be of the highest order"."I find it difficult to conceive of any media reporting in these circumstances in which publication of [the man's] identity, and the fact he is a [gang name is suppressed] gang member, at this stage would be necessary to meet the public interest, unless it was beneficial to police inquiries (with police confirming this is not the case)."Indeed, as police note in their application, to ease any heightened tensions as a result of [the man's] death, the opposite may in fact apply - it may well be in the public interest that [his] identity not be made public at this stage."The coroner's minute said police had applied for an interim non-publication order in relation to the name of the man and the fact they were a member of a certain gang."Section 74 provides for a coroner to make a non-publication order in respect of evidence given or submissions made at any part of inquiry proceedings and the name of any witness, or any name or particulars likely to lead to the identification of any witness/witnesses, where the coroner is satisfied it is in the interest of justice, decency, public order, or personal privacy to do so."The exercise of such a statutory power to prohibit publication must start with the fundamental principle of open justice and the right of the media to report open judicial proceedings fairly and accurately as 'surrogates of the public'."Police referred to several reasons for the application, including that the man was a gang member, that the investigation was in its "very early stages" and "there is now media interest and the media have contacted the police for comment".Schmidt-McCleave ruled that she was satisfied the non-publication orders were "a justified limitation on open justice and freedom of expression, at least at this time".The order will be revisited by the responsible coroner, once the case is assigned."It will be for the responsible coroner to then consider the grounds afresh and make any further order as to the continuance, variation or revocation of this interim order."This interim order should therefore in no way be seen as an indication that any further interim or permanent non-publication orders will be made."