Pressing The Press !
BY R.K.MISRA
Is the BJP-led
NDA government set to impose stringent curbs on the freedom of the press in the
name of “ease of doing business” and removing colonial-era penal provisions?
Information and Broadcasting minister, Anurag
Thakur talks of decriminalizing several
colonial-era legal provisions and making things easier. The Editors Guild of
India(EGI) does not share his enthusiasm and has flagged down certain
“draconian” provisions in the bill that will majorly impinge on the freedom of
the press.
Even otherwise India’s ranking in press
freedom has seen a significant decline over the years. The latest report by
global media watchdog RSF or Reporters Without borders released on World Press
Freedom day, May 3, has ranked India 161st out of 180 countries.
India’s ranking in 2022 was 150 and in 2014,before the change of government at
the Centre,140. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have shown significant improvements
from 157th in 2022 to 150 this year and Sri Lanka jumping 11 spots
to acquire 135th rank. The decline in India’s ranking continues
unrestrained.
In a related development ,on August 3 The
Rajya Sabha passed The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill , 2023
that replaces the existing legislation which governs the registration of the
print and publishing industry in the country. The bill replaces the existing Press and
Registration of Books(PRB) Act,1867.
Replying to the
discussion on the bill, Information and Broadcasting minister, Anurag Thakur
said that this will lead to ease of doing business for the media and publishing
companies , simplify the process of registration and decriminalize several
colonial-era penal provisions.
The Editors
Guild of India (EGI), a premier media body of the country expressed concern
over the ‘draconian provisions’ of the bill that can have an adverse impact
on freedom of the press.
In a
statement the Guild said that it would
like the proposed bill to ensure that publishing of news in India remains free
of encumbrances and intrusive checks on publishers by the registrar, and that
the primary emphasis of the registrar and the PRP remains ‘registration’ and
not ‘regulation’ as the latter has the
potential of restricting freedom of the press. ”The law on this issue should be
more respectful of press freedom and should avoid granting vast powers to
regulatory authorities to ‘either interfere or shut down the press at their
whims and fancies”, it added.
With the bill
already passed by the Rajya Sabha, the
EGI has urged the Lok Sabha Speaker to refer it to a parliamentary select
committee “ to allow a deep discussion on the issues crucial for press
freedom”.
The bill
introduces a provision granting the press registrar power to deny or cancel the
registration of a periodical if an applicant has been convicted of an offence involving a terrorist act or
unlawful activity, or for “ having done anything against the security of the
state”. Most importantly the bill
clarifies that for either purpose , the term ‘terrorist act” and “ unlawful
activity” shall have the meaning
assigned to them by the UAPA !
Given the
liberal and arbitrary application of the
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act(UAPA),1967, laws on sedition and others such
laws can bring any journalist or newspaper establishment within the definition
of such provisions. The EGI has pointed out
and the fact remains that
writings critical of the government may easily be interpreted by the state to
penalize such media-persons. The EGI has similarly also drawn attention to the
provision that gives the press registrar the power to enter any premise where
the business of a periodical is carried out to inspect, take copies of
documents and to ask any questions.
The EGI
caution on the “ liberal and arbitrary” use of the UAPA should be seen in
the case of the October 2020 arrest of
journalist Sidheeq Kappan, by the Uttar Pradesh police while travelling
to Hathras to report on a gang-rape and murder
case. Charged besides the UAPA, also under the Indian Penal Code and the
Information and technology Act,2000, Kappan was finally released this February
after 850 days in captivity. The state’s
attitude is best reflected in the fact that though being granted bail for the
first case by the Supreme Court on September 9,2022,he remained in jail due to
ongoing investigations in another case. On December 23, he was granted bail by
the Allahabad High Court in the second case but ‘procedural delays’ forced him
to remain in jail up to February 2. There are other such cases involving
journalists as well.
The bill grants the union government the power to frame rules and guidelines for implementing the provisions of the proposed legislation. The EGI has raised concerns “ it has been seen time and again that the power to frame rules under various Acts has been used in arbitrary as well as excessively intrusive manner”. It cited the Information and Technology Rules,2021 and 2023 as examples of delegated legislation which has armed the government with “sweeping powers”. The Guild has urged that all rules should be clearly defined within the primary legislation itself “for the sake of preserving freedom of the press”.
This column was published in the respective newspapers in the edition dated August 15,2023. The links are given below
http://epaper.lokmat.com/lokmattimes/main-editions/Nagpur%20Main/2023-08-15/6
http://odishapostepaper.com/edition/4607/orissapost/page/9
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