SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION TO MASS MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

[INTERNAL ASSESSMENT OF 4TH SEMESTER ]

[PROJECT TOPIC: PRESS HISTORY: 200 YEARS OF THE INDIAN PRESS ] ”

SUBMITTED TO: MRS. ASHU MAHRSHI SUBMITTED BY: AKASH SHRIVASTAVA

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW 10TH SEMESTER

SEEDLING SCHOOL OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE

JAIPUR NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction......................................................................................................................................3

THE 1799 REGULATIONS................................................................................................................3

RIFT IN COUNCIL............................................................................................................................4

PRESS REGULATIONS REPEALED...................................................................................................4

THE GAGGING ACT........................................................................................................................5

THE UNDERGROUND PRESS: 1931. 1942. 1975.............................................................................6

THE ROWLATT ACT AND ITS AFTERMATH....................................................................................9

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION.....................................................................................................10

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION LAWS IN INDIA..........................................................................11

FREEDOM OF PRESS......................................................................................................................11

THE PRESS AND REGISTRATION OF BOOKS ACT, 1867..............................................................11

THE NEWSPAPER (PRICES AND PAGES) ACT, 1956....................................................................12

THE PRESS COUNCIL ACT, 1978..................................................................................................12

THE CONTEMPT OF COURTS ACT, 1971.....................................................................................12

THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005...................................................................................13

THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT............................................................................................................13

TRAI’S DTH REGULATION.........................................................................................................14

ADVERTISING STANDARDS COUNCIL OF INDIA..........................................................................14

THE PRASAR BHARATI (BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF INDIA).........................................15

THE TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA................................................................15

CABLE TELEVISION NETWORKS REGULATION..........................................................................15

LAW RELATING TO OBJECTIONABLE ADVERTISEMENTS OF DRUG AND MAGIC REMEDIES. .16

LAW RELATING TO DELIVERY OF BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES.............16

THE PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA'S NORMS OF JOURNALISTIC CONDUCT...................................17

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LAW RELATING TO OFFICIAL SECRETS......................................................................................17

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF THE WORKING JOURNALISTS AND OTHER NEWSPAPER

EMPLOYEES...................................................................................................................................17

CINE WORKER’S WELFARE CESS...............................................................................................18

CINE WORKERS WELFARE FUND................................................................................................18

LAWS RELATING TO THE PRESS..................................................................................................18

1. CONSTITUTION OF INDIA...................................................................................................18

2. PRESS LAWS/ACTS.............................................................................................................18

3. RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860.................................................19

4. Relevant Provisions of Cr. P.C., 1973 (Act No. lI of 1974)...............................................20

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INTRODUCTION

The two-hundred-year history of the Indian Press, from the time of Hicky to the present day, is

the history of a struggle for freedom, which has not yet ended. There have been alternating

periods of freedom and of restrictions on freedom amounting to repression. The pioneering

works on the Indian Press, like that of Margarita Barns, were stories of arbitrariness and

despotism, of reform and relaxation. The story of the Indian Press is a story of steady expansion

but also one of Press laws.

James Augustus Hicky had to fight for freedom from the time he started the

Bengal Gazette on January 29, 1780. He introduced himself as the first and late printer to the

Honorable East India Company though he did not seem to have enjoyed a high reputation. I have

no particular passion for printing of newspapers; I have no propensity I was not for a slavish life

of hard W pork, yet I take a pleasure in enslaving my body in order to purchase freedom for my

mind and soul. His two-sheet Gazette was a weekly political and commercial paper open to all

parties but influenced by none, specializing in the exposure of the private lives of servants of the

Company including the governor-general, Warren Hastings. He was sued for libel, fined and

imprisoned, edited his Gazette even from prison, and was ultimately impoverished.

Hicky was a pioneer and he had several followers. There was no freedom of the Press as such

then; there were no Press laws. There was both censorship and pre-censorship. There was a law

of libel but few observed it. The Press worked in a no-man’s land like the Company itself. Hicky

and his followers were pioneers of scurrilous writing, as well as pioneers of freedom.

THE 1799 REGULATIONS In May 1799, the first Press regulations were issued requiring newspaper to carry the names of

the printer, the editor and the proprietor, who were to declare themselves to the Secretary to the

Government and to submit all material published in newspapers to his scrutiny. The Secretary

was the censor and immediate deportation was the punishment for breach of the rules. Wellesley

was at this time fighting Tipoo and the French, and later the Second Maratha War. Restrictions

were imposed from time to time for non-observance of pre-censorship and censorship rules.

Editors were repeatedly warned. In 1818, pre-censorship was abolished as Lord Hastings,

governor-general, wanted to throw the responsibility wholly on editors.

James Buckingham and Raja Rammohan Roy were great fighters for freedom of the Press at this

period. Hastings was liberal but John Adam, Chief Secretary, was not. In a statement explaining

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his order for the deportation of Buckingham, he said he objected “tohe assumption by an editor

of a newspaper of the privilege of sitting in judgement on the acts of Government and bringing

public measures and conduct of public men as well as the conduct of private individuals before

the bar of what Buckingham and his associates miscall public opinion. When Adam became

Acting governor-general, he was responsible for the first Press ordinance in India, which was

approved by the Court of Directors. In essence, the ordinance required that all matter printed in a

Press or published thereafter should be printed and published under a licence from the Governor-

General-in-Council signed by the Chief Secretary to the Government. Magistrates were given

immense powers and severe penalties were provided for the circulation of proscribed literature.

The regulations promulgated by Adam were apparently directed against newspapers published in

the Indian languages and edited by Indians. Ram Mohan Roy’s Miratul-Akhbar ceased

publication in protest. Even the British-owned English language newspapers received warnings

periodically.

RIFT IN COUNCIL Lord William Bentinck, who introduced radical reforms in other fields and was helped by a

Liberal regime in Britain, saw the advantage of newspapers published in the Indian languages

working for social reform and relaxed restrictions imposed on the Press and introduced a liberal

policy to. wards the Press. In this he was greatly influenced by Sir Charles Metcalfe, a member

of his Council.

When Metcalfe became Acting governor-general, he was helped by Macaulay and freed the

Press and made English the official language. Metcalfe, in a note, said I take it as universally

granted that the Press ought to be free, subject, of course, to the laws, provided that it be not

dangerous to the stability of our Indian Empire. He further said: "I have, for my own part, always

advocated the liberty of the Press, believing its benefits to outweigh its mischiefs; and I continue

of the same opinion." But the governor-general's Council decided by a majority in favour of

imposing restrictions.

PRESS REGULATIONS REPEALED As governor-general, Metcalfe followed the policy he had advocated as member of the Council.

Macaulay, as member of the Council, supported him and wrote in a note: "We are exposed to all

the dangers, dangers I conceive, greatly over-rated of a free Press; and at the same time we

continue to incur all the opprobrium of a censorship." The Bengal Press Regulations of 1823 and

the Bombay Press Regulations of 1825 and 1827 were repealed and a new Act was passed by the

governor-general with the unanimous support of his Council. The Court of Directors were angry

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with Metcalfe for having substituted the new law for the old without a reference to them.

Metcalfe was not confirmed as governor-general. But Lord Auckland, who succeeded him, did

not reverse his policy. There was no change in the Government's policy towards the Press from

1836 to 1856, the period covering the Governor-Generalships of Auckland, Elienborough,

Hardinge and Dalhousie. Act No. XI of 1835, passed by Metcalfe, allowed the Press to develop

rapidly in Bengal, Bombay, Madras and the North-West Provinces. This progress was

interrupted by the Great Rebellion of 1857 for which seditious writings and the tone of the

vernacular Press were considered to have been preparing the ground.

THE GAGGING ACT Under Canning, Queen Victoria's proclamation and his later policy of clemency, an Act for

regulating the Press re-enacted with slight modifications the provisions of the Adam regulation

of 1823 for the whole of India. The provisions of the Metcalfe statute were also retained. The

new Act thus restored the system of licences in addition to the existing registration procedure.

This was called the Gagging Act. After he became Viceroy and power was transferred from the

Company to the Crown, Canning responded to the spirit of the new times and the Press felt

somewhat free again.

Lord Lytton became the Viceroy in 1876 and made his regime notorious for the Vernacular Press

Act. He had a pile of documents before him on the transgressions of the Indian languages Press.

The new Act’s main objects were to place newspapers published in the languages of India under

"better control" and to furnish the Government with more effective means of publishing and

discouraging seditious writings calculated to produce disaffection towards the Government in the

minds of the ignorant population. The Act excited fierce criticism. In 1880, the Liberals came to

power in Britain and Gladstone, who had denounced the Act, was Prime Minister. The new

Viceroy, Ripon, was instructed to repeal the Act. It was a period of relaxation. The Indian

National Congress was founded. Mill, Bright and Morley gave hope to Indian leaders.

The subsequent periods of strain for the Indian Press were during the days of the Partition of

Bengal, the First World War, Gandhi’s movements, the Second World War and the Quit-India-

Movement. Under the Press Emergency Powers Act, which was for long on the statute book, and

the Defence of India Rules, independent papers suffered. After Independence too, the Press had

to be vigilant. There was a battle over amendment of article 19(2). The most recent struggle was

during the Emergency. The case for making freedom of expression and information more

fundamental under the Constitution is before the Second Press Commission. There should be

some permanent normalcy for the Press in all conditions, though it requiries reform and self-6

regulation. It does not deserve to be subjected to alternate fits of liberalism and repression, which

has been its history.

THE UNDERGROUND PRESS: 1931. 1942. 1975 During the Independence struggle our foreign rulers did not allow the publication of anything

they considered ‘seditious’. Naturally, those who had their stakes in such ‘seditious’ material had

to resort to underground publications. The printing presses were not in abundance in those days.

Also, most press owners were reluctant to print anti-Government literature. However, the

‘seditious’ books were published regularly, and banned as regularly by the British Rulers.

Interestingly, it was seldom that any press was confiscated for the publication of subversive

literature, Newspapers and journals could even publish some of the news or incidents connected

with the freedom struggle. For example, Gandhiji’s Dandi March to violate Salt Laws was

reported in all the papers. But complete censorship was imposed on the vernacular Press when

Gandhiji’s arrest led to country-wide disturbances and the detention of about 60,000 persons.

The arrests of persons connected with overground publications led the freedom-fighters to

publish everything in the underground. During the 1 930s the weekly Swadhinata of Calcutta

regularly published news of the freedom struggle. Four of its editors were convicted and the

paper was ultimately banned from April 11, 1931 but ‘seditious’ reports kept being reproduced

and circulated secretly. Similarly, when the Bengali daily Sandhya was banned, it continued to

be published secretly. The Bengali weekly Jugan tar used to preach revolution openly. When

four of its editors were consecutively convicted, the paper started its publication secretly. This

indicates that the publishers and distributors of underground publications had a close-knit

organisation manned by dedicated and resourceful persons. The situation was a bit different in

1942. After the Congress Working Committee passed its famous ‘Quit India’ resolution on

August 9 in Bombay, Gandhiji and other Congress leaders were arrested. The British

Government imposed certain restrictions on the Press regarding the coverage of news and

comments relating to the mass movement that was launched after the arrest of the Congress. But

due to loopholes in the restrictions the major papers of the country could publish the news of the

arrest of the leaders and of demonstrations and protests in the country.

These were published prominently on the front page of the nationalist dailies. Newspapers could

also report the manner of the leaders’ arrests. Critical comments against the British Government

also appeared in many newspapers. There was no such thing as pre. censorship. Naturally, there

was less need for an underground Press in 1942. However, much underground literature was

published and circulated by different groups who could not escape the ire of the British 7

administration, loopholes or no loopholes. The Congress Socialist Party, the Revolutionary

Socialist Party, Forward Block and the Revolutionary Communist Party were some such groups.

The situation was entirely different when the internal Emergency was imposed in the country on

June 26, 1975 and subsequent amendments were made in the MISA to detain any person without

trial. The Government suppressed transmission of news from one place to another by imposing

censorship on newspapers, journals, radio, TV, telex, telegrams, news agencies and on foreign

correspondents. Even teleprinter services were subjected to pre-censorship. The censorship was

total and unparalleled in Indian history. - The news agencies had to get all the news censored in

Delhi before transmission. Newspapers again had to submit already censored news for re-

censorship in their respective headquarters. Even the contents of advertisements, cartoons etc.

were subjected to either precensorship or censor guide lines.

The circulation of foreign papers was also subjected to censorship. The Press Information Bureau

was assigned the job of reading all foreign papers and journals and was empowered to order

confiscation if necessary. A large number of foreign journalists were extorted as they refused to

send news according to the dictates of the then Press Adviser to the Government of India. As a

result there was a complete black-out of all truthful news. Newspapers could not publish the

news of arrests of the opposition leaders or of what was happening in the country. For the first

few days the people had to rely solely on foreign radio and rumours. Of course, The Hindusthan

Standard of Calcutta, Motherland of Delhi, some papers in Tamil Nadu, the North Bengal edition

of Ananda Bazar Patrika and one edition of The Statesman, (Calcutta) could publish the news of

the arrests of the Opposition leaders,. but people in general were unaware of those arrests.

People were hungry for news. But the problem of collecting information was as serious as the

publication and distribution of underground literature. The police took to arresting people at mid-

night. Letters were taken from Post Offices without informing the addressees, telephones were

tapped and police informers sent everywhere. An all round fear-psychosis was created. It was not

an easy job for any printing press to publish underground literature. The risk of being arrested

was always there. There was also a risk of the press being sealed by the police. Distribution of

literature was also a serious problem : how and to whom the literature would be sent? How to

know who were the sympathisers? The cost of distribution proved to be very high compared to

the cost of publication. Initially, most of the newssheets were cyclostyled. In the absence of hard

news, newssheetswriters relied on foreign radios and the so-called ‘information’ supplied by

their known persons. There were references to articles printed in foreign papers. The distribution

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of zerox copies of relevant news and articles from foreign papers started in Bombay. After a few

months the publication of underground literature in India became a little organised. The

existence of non-Congress Governments in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu helped such publications.

The Tamil language papers remained free for some time to publish news against the Emergency

rule. A large number of Indians residing in the U.K., Canada, the U.S.A. and elsewhere

organised themselves along- with the liberal democrats or (Gujarati), Radical Humanist, these

countries to hold protest Himmat, Janata, Quest, Tughlak meetings and demonstrations, Tamil),

Daily Morosoli (Tamil), the publish booklets, journals and news- Indian Express, The Statesman,

sheets in those countries and to People edited by N. G. Gore advertise in papers like the Times of

after the stoppage of publication of London against the dictatorial regime Janata, uncensored

Kolkata, xerox in India. They formed the "Free copies of Indian news published in J.P.

Committee" in England, the foreign Press, anti-Emergency "Committee for Freedom" and the

publications by Indians abroad like "Committee for Civil Liberty in Swarajya (England),

Satyavani, India" and regularly sent literature Indian Opinion (USA), Democracy or to thousands

of addressees in India. Dictatorship in India (published by Political workers as well as the

committee for "Freedom in known party writers, journalists and India"), news of Amesty

Internaintellectuals became involved in the National and Socialist International, publication of

underground literature, important judgements and satya-There was a dearth of finance as grahas

in different states provided moneyed men were unwilling to help material for the underground

Press. underground publications.

The largest amount of underground owners of printing presses had a literature was published in

three grand times. Many of them did not publish anything nor did they return Maharashtra

(because J.P. was the money. Still, lakhs of people staying in a Bombay Hospital) and were

involved in the production and in Bihar the Chhatra Sangh had distribution of underground

literature. This was evident from titles which included books, booklets, of Om Mehta, the Home

Minister for State and newssheets, leaflets and letters. Janata Chapun, an underground Gujarati

paper, was seized and more than regularly at least three times a week people had been arrested in

and during the Emergency. intensive drive to stop the circulation On All India basis, there were

of clandestine literature opposing four parallel arrangements to India's state of Emergency.

coordinate the collection of news (Financial Times, London, June 18, and to distribute

underground 1976). Men like Nanaji Deshmukh, Surendra B. G. Rao (Retd. I.C.S.) of Delhi

(Satya used the name of Lok Sangharsha Samachar), K. S. Hegde, (Retd. Justice of Supreme

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Court and the former Speaker of Lok Sabha), Samity and their newssheets contained only news

and quotations These were published in English) of Bangalore(Kahai) and Hindi, Bengali,

Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada and in other major Indian languages. A.D. Gorwala (Retd. I.CS.) of

Bombay (cyclostyled Opinion) Jana Sangharsha leaders also involved in the publication of

underground newssheets. Foreign papers and journals, foreign radio, foreign journalists, booklets

and States, exchanged information and letters written by J.P. and others helped different units to

publish underground literature. Some overground publications like Desai through Bhumiputra

published Bhumiputra (Gujarati), Sadhana from Ahmedabad, disseminated important

information throughout the country. George Fernandes set the pace of the underground

movement from another direction. His letters published in different languages contained news

and criticism of Indira Gandhi’s accusations against the Opposition as well as the nature of the

movement to dislodge the dictatorial regime of Mrs Gandhi. In terms of letters published in the

underground possibly Fernandes ranks next only to J.P.

In the States, many more groups were involved in the publication of underground literature. In

Bihar, Chhatra Sangharsha Samity and Yuva Sangharsha Samity and in Punjab the Akali Dal

were very active. In West Bengal, Paschimbanga Nagarik Samity, Kolkata and Khabar groups

along with Sangram, and in Orissa, Srimati Rama Devi, the Sarvodaya leader, were very active

in the publication and distribution of underground literature. In Delhi, Delhi University and JNU

students were also very active groups. Books like Why Emergency?, Lies Unmasked, .P. "Prison

Diary", Tortures of Political Prisoners in India, Snehalata Reddy’s Prison Diary and Delhi Under

Emergency were published in the underground. When it was difficult to publish articles in

journals, they were published in book form because books were not subjected to pre-censorship.

Ananda Shankar Ray’s Kando-Priya Desh was one such book.

The production and distribution of underground literature brought the journalists, writers, college

and University teachers and political workers together. When elections to the Lok Sabha were

declared on January 19, 1977, Janata Party got the active support of all these and of the

organisational network of the underground Press

THE ROWLATT ACT AND ITS AFTERMATH The positive impact of reform was seriously undermined in 1919 by the Rowlatt Act, named

after the recommendations made the previous year to the Imperial Legislative Council by the

Rowlatt Commission, which had been appointed to investigate "seditious conspiracy." The

Rowlatt Act, also known as the Black Act, vested the Viceroy's government with extraordinary

powers to quell sedition by silencing the press, detaining political activists without trial, and 10

arresting any individuals suspected of sedition or treason without a warrant. In protest, a

nationwide cessation of work (hartal) was called, marking the beginning of widespread, although

not nationwide, popular discontent.

The agitation unleashed by the acts culminated on 13 April 1919, in the Amritsar Massacre in

Amritsar, Punjab. The British military commander, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, ordered

his soldiers to fire into an unarmed and unsuspecting crowd of some 10,000 people. They had

assembled at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled garden, to celebrate Baisakhi, a Sikh festival, without

prior knowledge of the imposition of martial law. A total of 1,650 rounds were fired, killing 379

people and wounding 1,137 in the episode, which dispelled wartime hopes of home rule and

goodwill in a frenzy of postwar reaction.

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION Communication is the procedure, which we use to exchange information by various methods.

And media is the medium or instrument of storing or communicating information. Media and

Communication system is different in every country depending on its economy, polity, religion

and culture. In communist and totalitarian countries like USSR and China, there were serious

limitations on the media. Any criticism about the state was repressed. While in America having

Bourgeois, people enjoy great freedom in the sphere of media and communication. Few years

ago, before the era of Communication Satellites, the national media, both public and private, was

the medium of communication all over the world. With the advent of communication

technologies like Satellite Delivery and ISDN, came the transnational media and brought with it

the facilities of local TV, global films, and global information system. In the new democratic

states, various media associations have been formed to fight for just and open media laws,

defend civil rights of journalists and promote industry reforms. In the wake of the rapid growth

and independence of the mass media, there arose the need of some laws and regulations. The

legal infrastructure of a country determines freedom of the media to perform its functions. The

International regulating agency in the arena of media and communications is the International

Telecommunication Union, which is the prime agency of the UNO for information and

communication technologies. It governs the areas of radio communication, standardization and

development. ITU is situated at Geneva, Switzerland, and it includes one hundred and ninety-one

member states and more than seven hundred sector members and associates. It promotes the

adoption and implementation of fair media laws for the transition from an autocratic to a

democratic society. Every democratic nation has respective laws to regulate the various branches

of public media and mass media.11

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION LAWS IN INDIA The evolution of the Media and Communication Laws in India has been greatly influenced by

the history of British colonization in India. The first Media and Communication Law in India

dates back to 1799 when Lord Wellesley passed the Press Regulation. It imposed pre-censorship

on the newspaper publishing industry. The Press Act of 1835 annulled all the previous repressive

laws on media and communication. Then came the Gagging Act on 18th June 1857. It introduced

compulsory licensing for the owning or running of printing presses, empowered the government

to prohibit the publication or circulation of any newspaper, book or other printed material and

banned the publication or dissemination of statements or news stories which had a tendency to

cause furore against the government, thereby undermining its authority.

The Press and Registration of Books Act was passed in 1867 and till today this Act is in force.

The Vernacular Press Act of 1878 was promulgated by General Lord Litton, which authorized

the government to repress the publication of seditious writings and to impose punitive sanctions

on printers and publishers failing to conform the law. The Newspapers (incitement to offences)

Act was passed in 1908 with the initiation of Lord Minto to prohibit publication deemed to incite

rebellion.

FREEDOM OF PRESS The freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India ensures the right

to express one’s strong belief and opinions freely by word, writing, printing, picture or electronic

media or in any other form of expression. Thus, this freedom implies the freedom of press in the

absence of any separate provision of freedom of press in the Constitution. However, the freedom

of press is not absolute. It is subject to certain reasonable restrictions. The Constitution also

imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of press in the interests of

the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign

States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or

incitement to an offence.

THE PRESS AND REGISTRATION OF BOOKS ACT, 1867 The Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 has been enacted for the regulation of printing-

presses and newspapers, for the preservation of copies of books and newspapers printed in India

and for the registration of such books and newspapers. This is the oldest law relating to the press,

still existing in India. This regulatory law was aimed to enable the government to regulate

printing presses and newspapers and other matter printed in India. Several minor amendments

were made in the Act to fulfill the need of the changing situation. However, on the basis of the

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recommendations of the First Press Commission in 1953, a major amendment was made in the

Act which created the Office of the Registrar of Newspapers of India (RNI) and laid down its

duties and functions. It started to function in 1956. The Act contains the particulars to be printed

on books and papers, rules as to publication of newspapers and requires the keeper of printing

press to make certain declarations.

THE NEWSPAPER (PRICES AND PAGES) ACT, 1956 The Newspaper (Prices and Pages) Act, 1956 was enacted to provide for the regulation of the

prices charged for newspapers in relation to their pages and of matters connected therewith for

the purpose of preventing unfair competition among newspapers so that newspapers may have

fuller opportunities of freedom of expression. The Act empowers the central government to make

orders providing for the regulation of the prices charged for newspapers in relation to their

maximum or minimum number of pages, sizes or areas and for the space to be allotted for

advertising matter in relation to other matters therein for the purpose of preventing unfair

competition among newspapers so that newspapers generally and in particular, newspapers with

smaller resources and those published in Indian languages may have fuller opportunities of

freedom of expression. The Act further provides the Central Government shall, before making

any order, consult associations of publishers and such publishers likely to be affected by the

order. The Act prohibits publication and sale of newspapers in contravention of any order made

under the provisions of this Act.

THE PRESS COUNCIL ACT, 1978 The Press Council Act, 1978 was enacted with an objective to establish a Press council for the

purpose of preserving the freedom of the Press and of maintaining the standards of newspaper

and news agencies in India. The provisions of this Act established the Press Council of India

which is a body corporate having perpetual succession, with effect from 1st March 1979. The

Press Council of India is empowered to make observations in respect of conduct of any authority

including Government, if considered necessary for performance of its functions under the Act.

The Council can warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the editor or the

journalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist if it finds that a newspaper or a

news agency has not complied with the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste or that an

editor or a working journalist has committed any professional misconduct.

THE CONTEMPT OF COURTS ACT, 1971 The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 has been enacted to define and limit the powers of certain

courts in punishing contempt of courts and to regulate their procedure in relation thereto.

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Punishment for contempt affects two important fundamental rights of the citizens, namely, the

right to personal liberty and the right to freedom of expression. According to the provisions of

this Act, contempt of court means civil contempt or criminal contempt. Civil contempt means

willful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or

willful breach of an undertaking given to a court. Criminal contempt means the publication,

whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, of

any matter or the doing of any other act which lowers the authority of any court. The Act

provides that any act done or writing published which is calculated to bring a court or a judge

into contempt, or to lower his authority, or to interfere with the due course of justice or the

lawful process of the court, is a contempt of court.

THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005 The Right to Information Act, 2005 has been enacted to provide for right to information for

citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to

promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the

constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for

matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. For the proper functioning of every democratic

nation, it is important to have informed citizens and transparency of information and also to

contain corruption and to hold governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the

citizens. Subject to the provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have the right to information.

According to the provisions of this Act, ‘information’ means any material in any form, including

records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders,

logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form

and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under

any other law for the time being in force and ‘right to information’ means the right to

information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public

authority and includes the right to inspection of work, documents, records; right to take notes,

extracts or certified copies of documents or records; right to take certified samples of material;

and right to obtain information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any

other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in

any other device;

THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT The Copyright Act, 1957 has been enacted with an objective to amend and consolidate the law

relating to copyright in India. The Act has been legislated in compliance with the international

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conventions and treaties in the field of copyrights.  India is a member of the Berne Convention of

1886 (as modified at Paris in 1971), the Universal Copyright Convention of 1951 and the

Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of

1995.  India is not a member of the Rome Convention of 1961, but the provisions of the

Copyright Act, 1957 is in conformity with the Rome Convention provisions. The Act requires for

the establishment of a Copyright Office headed by Registrar of Copyrights to be appointed by

the Central Government, who would act under the superintendence and directions of the Central

Government.

The Act requires the Central Government to constitute the Copyright Board for the execution of

the provisions of this Act. The Act defines copyright as the exclusive right subject to the

provisions of this Act, to do or authorise the doing of certain acts specified therein in respect of a

work or any substantial part thereof.

TRAI’S DTH REGULATION The Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection (Fourth

Amendment) Regulation, 2007 addresses the regulatory provisions on interconnection issues

relating to DTH services. In 2001 the Govt. of India issued the DTH guidelines and licensing

conditions. Free-to-air DTH services are being offered by Doordarshan. The pay DTH services

have been started by two DTH operators. More pay DTH operators are in the process of rolling

out their services. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI has issued a new regulation

for Direct to Home Broadcasting Services for the welfare of DTH subscribers. By virtue of this

new regulation, the DTH Operator now cannot disable the set-top boxes of the subscribers who

want to discontinue the DTH service. This regulation will ensure the welfare of the DTH

subscribers against the cable operators who charges their clients on the behalf of several schemes

and plans without giving them prior information.

DTH = Direct to home

ADVERTISING STANDARDS COUNCIL OF INDIA The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a self regulatory voluntary organization of

the advertising industry. It was set up in October 1985. The ASCI and its Consumer Complaints

Council deals with complaints received from consumers and industry, against Ads which are

considered as False, Misleading, Indecent, Illegal, leading to Unsafe practices, or Unfair to

competition, and  consequently in contravention of the ASCI Code for Self-Regulation in

Advertising. The representatives of Indian Society of Advertisers, the Advertising Agencies

Association of India and the Indian Newspapers Society have set up the Council to self-regulate

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the content of advertisements. The Code of the Council for Self-Regulation in Advertising

specifies that all advertising should be truthful, honest, decent, legal and safe for consumers

particularly minors, and fair to the competition.

THE PRASAR BHARATI (BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF INDIA) The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990 has been enacted to provide

for the establishment of Broadcasting Corporation for India, to be known as Prasar Bharati, to

define its composition, functions and powers and to provide for matters connected therewith or

incidental thereto. The Act provides that the Broadcasting Corporation of India shall be a body

corporate having perpetual succession. Regarding the functions and powers of the corporation,

the Act lays down that subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be the primary duty of the

Corporation to organise and conduct public broadcasting services to inform, educate and

entertain the public and to ensure a balanced development of broadcasting on radio and

television.

THE TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 has been enacted with an objective to

provide for the establishment of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Telecom

Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal for the purpose of regulating the Tele-

communication services, adjudicate disputes, dispose of appeals and to protect the interests of

service providers and consumers of the telecom sector, to promote and ensure orderly growth of

the telecom sector, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession. Subject to

the provisions of this act, TRAI shall have the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property,

both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall, by the said name, sue or be sued.

CABLE TELEVISION NETWORKS REGULATION The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 has been legislated to regulate the

operation of cable television networks in the country and for matters connected therewith or

incidental thereto. According to the provisions of this Act, ‘cable television network’ means any

system consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, control

and distribution equipment, designed to provide cable service for reception by multiple

subscribers. The Act prohibits the operation of cable television network by any person unless he

is registered as a cable operator under this Act subject to certain provisions. Regarding the

registration as cable operator the Act provides that any person who is operating or is desirous of

operating a cable television network may apply for registration as a cable operator to the

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registering authority. The Act further provides that no person shall transmit or re-transmit

through a cable service any programme unless such programme is in conformity with the

prescribed programme code and prescribed advertisement code. It has been made mandatory for

every cable operator re-transmit at least two Doordarshan terrestrial channels and one regional

language channel of a State in the prime band, in satellite mode on frequencies other than those

carrying terrestrial frequencies.

LAW RELATING TO OBJECTIONABLE ADVERTISEMENTS OF DRUG AND MAGIC REMEDIES The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 was legislated to

control the advertisement of drugs in certain cases, to prohibit the advertisement for certain

purposes of remedies alleged to possess magic qualities and to provide for matters connected

therewith. According to the provisions of the Act, ‘advertisement’ includes any notice, circular,

label, wrapper, or other document, and any announcement made orally or by any means of

producing or transmitting light, sound or smoke. ‘Magic remedy’ includes a talisman, mantra,

kavacha, and any other charm of any kind which is alleged to possess miraculous powers for or

in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease in human beings or

animals or for affecting or influencing in any way the structure or any organic function of the

body of human beings or animals. The Act prohibits advertisement of certain drugs for treatment

of certain diseases and disorders specified in the Act. The Act also prohibits misleading

advertisements relating to drugs.

LAW RELATING TO DELIVERY OF BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES The Delivery of Books 'and Newspapers' (Public Libraries) Act, 1954 has been enacted to

regulate delivery of Books to the National Library, Calcutta, and other public libraries. The Act

provides that subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, but without prejudice to the

provisions contained in Section 9 of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, the publisher

of every book published in the territories to which this Act extends after the commencement of

this Act shall, despite any agreement to the contrary, deliver at his own expense a copy of the

book to the National Library at Calcutta and one such copy to each of the other three public

libraries within thirty days from the date of its publication. Regarding the delivery of newspapers

to public libraries, the Act provides that subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, but

without prejudice to the provisions contained in the Press and Registration of Books Act,1867,

the publisher of every newspaper, published in the territories to which this Act extends, shall

deliver at his own expense one copy of each issue of such newspaper as soon as it is published,

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to each such public library as may be notified in this behalf by the Central Government in the

Official Gazette.

THE PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA'S NORMS OF JOURNALISTIC CONDUCT There should be a code of conduct for every profession to ensure its progress along with social

accountability. The Press council of India has set a code of journalistic norms with an objective

to build up a code of conduct for newspapers, news agencies and journalists in accordance with

high professional standards and on the basis of its adjudications of various cases. The code of

journalistic norms have been set to ensure the maintenance of high standards of public taste on

the part newspapers, news agencies and journalists and to develop a due sense of the rights and

responsibilities of citizenship and public service among all those engaged in the profession of

journalism

LAW RELATING TO OFFICIAL SECRETS The Official Secrets Act, 1923 has been enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to

official secrets in India. The Indian Official Secrets Act, 1889 was the first law relating to

official secrets. It was amended by the Indian Official Secrets (Amendment) Act, 1904 and later,

the Official Secrets Act, 1911, a British Act was brought into force in India. Subsequently, it was

felt desirable that there should be a single consolidated Act applicable to Indian conditions. Thus,

the Official Secrets Act, 1923 was passed. The Act bars all the government servants from

passing on the information to any other person.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE OF THE WORKING JOURNALISTS AND OTHER NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES The law governing the conditions of service of the Working Journalists and other Newspaper

Employees is the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service

and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1955. The Act provides for regulation of certain conditions

of service of working journalists and other persons employed in newspaper establishments.

According to the provisions of this Act, ‘working journalist’ is a person whose principal

avocation is that of a journalist and who is employed either whole time in one or more

newspaper establishments and includes an editor, a leader-writer, news-editor, sub-editor, feature

writer, copy tester, reporter, correspondent, cartoonist, news photographer, and proof reader and

‘newspaper’ means any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public

news. The Act lays down that for the purpose of fixing or revising rates of wages in respect of

working journalists, the Central Government as and when necessary shall constitute a Wage

Board.

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CINE WORKER’S WELFARE CESS The Cine Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1981 provides for the levy and collection of a cess on

feature films for the financing of activities to promote the welfare of certain cine workers and for

matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Regarding levy and collection of cess on

feature films the Act provides that there shall be levied and collected as a cess, for the purposes

of the Cine-workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981, a duty of excise at such rate, not being less than

one thousand rupees and not exceeding twenty thousand rupees on every feature film, as the

Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify from time to time. The

Act further provides that the duty of excise levied shall be in addition to any cess or duty leviable

on cinematograph films under any other law for time being in force.

CINE WORKERS WELFARE FUND The Cine Workers Welfare Fund has been established under the provisions of the Cine Workers

Welfare Fund Act 1981. This Act was legislated with an aim to provide for the financing of

activities to promote the welfare of certain cine-workers. Under the Act, ‘cine-worker’ has been

defined as an individual who has been employed, directly or through any contractor or in any

other manner, in or in connection with the production of not less than five feature films to work

as an artiste (including actor, musician or dancer) or to do any work, skilled, unskilled, manual,

supervisory, technical, artistic or otherwise; and whose remuneration with respect to such

employment in or in connection with the production of each of nay five feature films, has not

exceeded, where such remuneration has been by way of monthly wages, a sum of one thousand

rupees per month, and where such remuneration has been by way of a lump sum, a sum of five

thousand rupees. The Act provides for the constitution of Advisory Committees and a Central

Advisory Committee to advice the Central Government on any matter arising out of the

administration of this Act.

LAWS RELATING TO THE PRESS 1. CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

(i) Art. 19(1)(a) read with Art. 19(2) (Freedom of speech and expression)

(ii) Art. 361-A (Protection of publication of proceedings of Parliament and State Legislature)

2. PRESS LAWS/ACTS

(i) Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986

(ii) Punjab Special Powers (Press) Act, 1956.

(iii) The Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867

(iv) The Dramatic Performances Act, 187619

(v) The Indian Telegraph Act, 1898

(vi) The (Indian) Post Office Act,1898

(vii) The Police (Incitement of Disaffection) Act, 1922

(viii) Official Secrets Act, 1923 (Act No. 1923)

(ix) The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950

(x) Representation of the People Act, 1951

(xi) The Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries)Act, 1954

(xii) The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 (No.

21 of 1954)

(xiii) The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees(Conditions of Service)

and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955

(xiv) The Prize Competitions Act, 1955 (Act No. 42 of 1955)

(xv) Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

(xvi) The Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956

(xvii) The Copyright Act, 1957.

(xviii) Children Act, 1960

(xix) Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1961 as amended in 1990.

(xx) Atomic Energy Act, 1962

(xxi) Customs Act, 1962

(xxii) The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

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(xxiii) The Civil Defence Act, 1968

(xxiv) The Contempt of Courts Act,1971

(xxv) The Press Council Act, 1978 

(xxvi) The Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978

(xxvii) National Security Act, 1980

(xxviii) Right to Information Act,2003

3. RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860(i) Sec. 124-Assaulting President, Governor etc. with intent to compel or restrain the

exercise of any lawful power.

(ii) Sec. 153A-Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion,

race, place of birth, residence, language etc. and doing acts prejudicial to

maintenance of harmony.

(iii) Sec. 153B-Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration.

(iv) Sec. 171G-False statement in connection with an election.

(v) Sec.228-Intentional insult or interruption to public servant sitting in judicial

proceeding.          

(vi) 228(a) Disclosure of identity of the victim of offences, u/s 376, 376-A, 376-B,

376-C or 376-D.

(vii) Sec. 292   Sale etc. of obscene books etc.

(viii) g) Sec 293   Sale etc. of obscene objects to young person.

(ix) Sec. 294A-Keeping lottery office.

(x) Sec. 295A-Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of

any class by           insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

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(xi) Sec. 299   Culpable homicide.

(xii) Sec. 499  Defamation.- Sec. 500 Punishment for Defamation.

(xiii) Sec. 501 Printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory matter.

(xiv) Sec. 502 Sale of printed or engraved substance containing defamatory

substance.       

(xv) Sec.505:-

a) Statements conducive to public mischief.b) Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between

classes.c) Offence under sub-section (2) committed in place of worship.

4. RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF CR. P.C., 1973 (ACT NO. LI OF 1974)(i) Sec. 91 -Power to take bond for appearance.

(ii) Sec. 93 -Summons and warrants of arrest.

(iii) Sec. 95 -Procedure as to letters and telegraphs.

(iv) Sec. 96 -When search warrants may be issued.

(v) Sec. 108  Security for good behaviour from persons disseminating seditious

matters.

(vi) Sec. 144 Power to issue orders absolute at once in urgent cases of nuisance or

apprehended danger

(vii) Sec. 177 to 187 Place of inquiry or trial.

(viii) Section 195 Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of servants.

(ix) Sec. 199   prosecution for adultery or enticing a married women.

(x) Sec. 327   Power to summon another set of jurors.

(xi) Sec. 340  Right of person against whom proceedings are instituted to be defended

and his competency to be a witness.

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(xii) Sec. 345  Compounding offences.

(xiii) Sec. 349 Procedure when Magistrate cannot pass sentence sufficiently severe.

(xiv) Sec. 350-Conviction or commitment on evidence partly recorded by one

Magistrate and partly by another.

(xv) Sec 351-Detention of offenders attending court.

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