AQUARTERLYJOURNALApril,2018

Press Council of India

New Delhi

The P.C.I. Review(January 1, 2018 - March 31, 2018)

A Quarterly JournalVol. 36 l April 2018 l No. 1

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About the Press Council of India

The Press Council of India was first set up in the year 1966 on the recommendations of the First Press Commission with twin object of “preserving the freedom of the press” and of “maintaining the standards of newspaper and the news agencies in India”. The Council is a quasi-judicial body which exercises over the authority's jurisdiction as well the press. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the Press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively.

The Press Council is headed by a Chairman, who has by convention, been a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. The Council consists of 28 other members of whom 20 represent the press, five are from the two Houses of Parliament and three are from the cultural, literary and legal fields and are nominated by the University Grants Commission, the Sahitya Academy and the Bar Council of India respectively. The term of the Chairman and the members is three years.

The Council fund comes from the fee levied on newspapers/news agencies/periodicals in the country on the basis of their circulation. No fee is levied on newspapers/news agencies/periodicals having circulation less than 25000 copies. The deficit is made good by way of grant-in-aid from Central Government.

Procedure for filing the complaint

Complaints against the Press

It is open to any person to lodge a complaint with the Press Council against newspapers/news agencies/periodicals for breach of the recognized ethical canons of journalistic propriety and taste. The complainant need not necessarily be the person aggrieved or directly involved. The breach may be in the publications or non-publication of a news-item or statement, or other material, like cartoons, pictures, photographs, strips or advertisements which are published in a newspaper/periodical. Cases can also be initiated by any member of the public against any professional misconduct by an editor, working journalist, staff of a newspaper or engaged in freelance work. There can also be a complaint against any matter transmitted by a news agency by any means whatsoever.

By virtue of the Press Council (Procedure for Inquiry) Regulations, 1979, complaint shall be lodged with the Council within the following periods.

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(i) Dailies, News agencies and weeklies........ within two months.

(ii) In other cases within four months.

Provided that a relevant publication of an earlier date may be referred to in the complaint.

Write to the Editor First

It is requirement of the Inquiry Regulations that the complainant should initially write to the editor of the newspapers/news agencies/periodicals drawing his attention to what the complainant considers to be a breach of journalistic ethics or against public taste. Such prior reference to the editor affords him an opportunity to deal with the matter in the first instance and thus allows the respondent to take such remedial action as he might consider appropriate before the complaint is lodged with the Council. This rule is necessary because it acquaints the editor with identity of his accuser and details of the compliant. It is conceivable that in some instances, the complainant has been wrongly informed or has misinterpreted the facts. In others, it may be a case of inadvertent error which the editor is only too ready to admit and correct. If the would-be-complainant is satisfied, that would be the end of the matter.

Where, after reference to the newspapers/news agencies/periodicals the person desires to proceed with the complaint, he should enclose with his complaint copies of correspondence with the editor, if no reply has been received from the editor, the fact should be mentioned in the complaint.

The complainant has to give the name and address of the newspapers/news agencies/periodicals editor or journalist against whom the complaint is directed. A clipping of the matter or news-items complained of, in original or self-attested copy (English translation, if the news item(s) is in Indian language) should accompany the complaint. The complainant has to state in what manner the passage or news-items or the material complained of is objectionable. He should also supply other relevant particulars, if any.

In the case of a complaint against non-publication of material, the complainant will, of course, say how that constitutes a breach of journalistic ethics.

The Council cannot deal with any matter which is sub-judice in the law court. The complainant has to declare that “to the best of his knowledge and belief he has placed all the relevant facts before the Council and that no

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proceedings are pending in any court of law in respect of any matter alleged in the complaint.” A declaration that “he shall notify the Council forthwith if during the pendency of the inquiry before the Council any matter alleged in the complaint becomes subject matter of any proceedings in a court of law” is also necessary.

Complaints regarding oppression to Press Freedom

Newspapers/news agencies/periodicals, a journalist or any institution or individual can complain against Central or State Government or any organization or person for interference with free functioning of the press or encroachment on the freedom of the press. Such complaints should contain full particulars of the alleged infringement whereupon the Council shall follow the procedure of inquiry set out herein above so far as may be.

The opinion expressed by the Council sub serves two useful purposes, namely (i) that any abuse of press freedom does not pass without anybody noticing it or raising a finger or protest, and (ii) that the press should not in its own interest indulge in scurrilous or other objectionable writings considered below the level of recognized standards of journalistic ethics by a fair minded jury like the Council constituted of the press itself, for it would lead to degradation of the much prized freedom of the press.

Address Your Complaints or Enquiries to :

The Secretary,

Press Council of IndiaSoochna Bhawan, 8, C.G.O. Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110 003.Phone : 91 (011) 24366403/24366745 (Extn. 319 & 320)Fax : 91 (011) 24366405/24366745 (Extn. 224)Email : secy-pci@nic.in, pcibppcomplaint@gmail.com; so.meetings-pci@gov.inWebsite : www.presscouncil.nic.in

The Annual Reports and the Quarterly Reviews of the Council provide information on activities of the Council. Current issues of these are available free of cost from the above address and also in the aforementioned website.

Press Council of IndiaSoochna Bhawan, 8, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110 003

13th Term of the Council (from 16th March 2018)Chairman : Mr. Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad

NAME ORGANISATION NOMINATED BY NEWSPAPERS

*Nominees of University Grants Commission, Bar Council of India and SahityaAcademy (Clause (d) of Sub-Section(3) of Section 5)

Prof. (Ms.) Sushma Yadav University Grants Commission

Shri Manan Kumar Mishra Bar Council of India

Dr. K. Sreenivasarao Sahitya Academy

*Members of Parliament Nominated by Speaker, Lok Sabha and Chairman, RajyaSabha (Clause (e) of Sub - Section (3) of Section 5)

Shri T. G. Venkatesh Babu Lok Sabha

Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi Lok Sabha

Shri Prathap Simha Lok Sabha

Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe Rajya Sabha

Shri Swapan Dasgupta Rajya Sabha

**Secretary: Vibha Bhargava

* Names of 8 members notified vide Gazette Notification dated 16.3.2018 for 13th Term. Nominationof members under category 5(3) (a) (b) (c) forwarded to the Ministry of I&B vide Council’s letterdated 28.3.2018 for notifying the names of twenty Members. Notification is awaited.

** Smt. Vibha Bhargava, Secretary, relieved from the service of the Press Council of India with herlast working day being 28.3.2018. Mrs. Anupama Bhatnagar, a Senior Administrative Grade officerof IIS Group ‘A’ posted as Additional Director General (News), NSD: AIR, New Delhi is transferredand posted as Additional Director General, PIB, New Delhi (to work in Press Council of India, NewDelhi) vide order dated 23.03.2018 with immediate effect.

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The PCI Review

Content

� � � � � � �Foreword 1

Part I

th1. 13 Term of the Reconstitution: Notifying Associations and Members

i) Advertisement Notice dated 30.9.2016 5

ii) Extension of date for inviting claims dated 22.12.2017 9

iii) Report of the Scrutiny Committee accepted 10 by the Council on 21.9.2017

iv) Dissent Note of the Hon'ble Chairman dated 9.10.2017 20

v) Gazette Notification dated 26.10.2017, notifying associations 25

vi) Order dated 15.2.2018 27

vii) Order dated 28.2.2018 43

viii) Gazette Notification dated 16.3.2018, notifying members in the 44

category 5 (d) and (e) of the Press Council Act, 1978

ix) Order dated 20.3.2018 46

x) Order dated 26.3.2018 52

xi) Press Release dated 5.4.2018 57

xii) Press Release dated 9.4.2018 59

Part II

2. Visit of Hon'ble Chairman to Bangladesh for the proposed

alliance of South Asian Alliance of Press Councils

i. Report of the Visit 63

ii. Speech delivered : “ Freedom & Security of Journalists 65

3. Views of Mrs. Vibha Bhargava, Secretary, Press Council of India 69

dated 28.3.2018 of her retirement.

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4. Gazette Notification dated 18.1.2018, regarding Press Council 70

(Amendment) Rules, 2018

State of the Press

5. Government and Press 72

6. Attack on Media 76

7. Press and the People 80

8. Court v/s Media 83

9. Social Media 86

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1

Foreword The PCI Review, a Quarterly Journal, encapsulates the events and activities pursued by the Council in carrying out its mandate to preserve the freedom of Press and improve the standards of Press in India. The Report is a reflection of the quasi judicial and advisory activities being pursued to pave the road for future endeavours and improvements in the media functioning.

st st� The term to be covered in this issue is from 1 January, 2018 to 31 th

March, 2018. During this period the Council was not in existence as the 12 th

term of the Council came to an end on 9.10.2017 and 13 term of the Council came into existence on 16.3.2018. No Inquiry Committee and PRAB meetings were held. Therefore, this issue does not contain adjudications rendered by the Council and PRAB matters.

th� The 13 term consisting of eight members as referred under clause (d) and (e) of sub section 3 of section 5 of the Press Council Act, 1978 has been constituted vide Gazette notification dated 16.3.2018. The Council has forwarded the list of 20 members to be nominated under clause (a), (b) and (c) of sub section 3 of section 5 of the same Act to the Ministry of I & B vide letter dated 28.3.2018. Notification for the same is awaited.

th� This issue carries documents on 13 term of Reconstitution for reference at one platform alongwith the brief of the visit of the Hon'ble Chairman to Bangladesh for giving shape to the proposal of the South Asian Alliance of Press Councils and Gazette amending the Press Council Rules & Regulations, 1978.

Hereby, the quarterly journal is presented to the readers as a informative reference record to further the objectives of establishment of the Press Council of India.

2

3

Part - I

4

5

Press Council of India

Notice

INVITING

CLAIMS FOR NOTIFICATIONTH

FOR 13 TERM

UNDER SECTION 5(4) OF THE PRESS COUNCIL ACT, 1978

Dated : 30.09.2016

Last date for Filing of Claims: 30.11.2016

The three-year term of the present members of the Press Council of India

expires on October 9, 2017. The Council is to be reconstituted for its thirteenth term

with effect from October 10, 2017. Of its 28 members, excluding the Chairman,

twenty are to be nominated in accordance with the procedure set out in Press Council

(Procedure for Nomination of Members) Rules, 1978 as amended on June 18,1999

read with Section 5 of the Press Council Act, 1978. Section 5(4) of the Press

Council Act, 1978, stipulates that before making any nomination of thirteen

working journalists i.e. six editors and seven non editors, and of six persons from

among those who own or carry on the business of management of newspapers and of

one from among persons who manage news agencies under clause (a), clause (b) or

clause (c) of Section 5(3) of the Act, respectively, the retiring Chairman of the

Council shall, in keeping with the procedure prescribed in the said Act and the rules,

invite panels of names comprising twice the number of members to be nominated

FROM SUCH ASSOCIATIONS OF PERSONS/NEWS AGENCIES OF THE

AFORESAID CATEGORIES AS MAY BE NOTIFIED IN THIS BEHALF BY

THE COUNCIL.

For the reconstitution of the Press Council of India for its thirteenth term

with effect from October 10, 2017, the Press Council therefore hereby invites

national level registered associations of the following categories to file their

respective claims for notification (or for re-notification of those who had been

notified in 2014 for its twelfth term), by the Press Council under sub-section (4) of

Section 5 of the Press Council Act, 1978:-

Vide clause (a) of Section 5(3):

i) �Associations of the category of editors

ii)� Associations of the category of working journalists other than editors

6

Vide clause (b) of Section 5(3):

iii)� Associations of persons who own or carry on the business or

management of big, medium and small newspapers.

Vide clause (c) of Section 5(3):

iv) Associations of persons who manage news agencies or news agencies

individually, in the event of there being no association of news

agencies. (Covered within the ambit of the Working Journalist Act and

Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and Misc.

Provisions) Act, 1955 and excluding feature and non wire agencies).

CRITERIA

Such associations of the aforesaid categories as would like to stake their

claim in this behalf and who are able to satisfy the Council as to their:

(i)� REGISTRATION under relevant laws of the country FOR AT

LEAST TEN YEARS PRIOR TO LAST DATE OF FILING THE

CLAIMS and should have held REGULAR ELECTIONS

according to their Constitution for the preceding three years.

(ii)� A C T I V E E X I S T E N C E A N D R E P R E S E N TAT I V E

CHARACTER ON A NATIONAL BASISvis a vis the said category.

(iii)�Bonafide membership of persons belonging to the claimant category in

at least 12 States/Union Territories and such

(iv)�Membership of the claimant association being not confined within the

specified category, to any particular group on regional or language basis

etc.

May file their claims(in a sealed envelope marked “Confidential

Claims”) on the letter head of the organisation carrying the registered address for

communication with the CHAIRMAN, PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA,

SOOCHNA BHAWAN, 8, CGO COMPLEX, LODHI ROAD, NEW DELHI-

110003, so as to reach him on or before 30.11.2016 (till 5 p.m.).

SUPPORTIVE DOCUMENTS

The claims should be accompanied by supportive documents showing that

the organization is eligible according to the above criteria to represent any one of the

categories set out above and also to establish that it is qualified to represent the

category under which it is staking its claim.

7

Following documents authenticated by Notary Public need to be filed :-

(a)� a copy of the Constitution/MoU of the association

(b) copy of the Registration Certificate of the claimant body, with up to

date �renewal certificate wherever applicable

(c) � the last three years audited accounts establishing the annual

membership fee received from its members

(d)� documents to prove the date of establishment�of the organization

such as copy of the bank account details, setting out the name and

branch of the bank concerned, the date of opening of the account and

the number of the account. This should be filed with a statement duly

attested by the concerned branch manager of the bank certifying that

the account has been under regular operation.

(e) documents establishing active existence of the body, including

minutes of the General Body meetings for the last three years

preceding the issuance of advertisement filed before the appropriate

authority i.e. Registrar of Societies etc.

(f) an upto date detailed list of its members representing the category

under which the claim is being filed with complete particulars as set

out below, listed state wise, in hard copy as well as soft copy in CD:-

(1) � SURNAME, FIRST NAME

(2) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS OF THE MEMBER

(3)� TITLE OF THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL BEING

REPRESENTED ALONG WITH REGISTRATION NUMBER

(4)� LANGUAGE IN WHICH THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL IS

PUBLISHED

(5)� NEWSPAPER/PERIODICALS PUBLICATION ADDRESS

ALONG WITH STATE NAME

(6)� OFFICE ADDRESS WITH NAME OF THE STATE AT WHICH

THE MEMBER IS CURRENTLY POSTED

(7)� DESIGNATION IN THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL i.e.

EDITOR, WORKING JOURNALIST OTHER THAN EDITORS,

OWNER/PUBLISHER OR MANAGER

8

(8)� CIRCULATION OF THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL OWNED

OR MANAGED BY THE MEMBER[INFORMATION

REGARDING THIS POINT TO BE PROVIDED BY

ORGANISATIONS FILING CLAIM UNDER SECTION 5(3)(b)]

(9)� WHETHER MEMBER OF ANY OTHER PARALLEL

ORGANISATION

(10)� DATE OF JOINING THE ORGANISATION AND

(11)� MEMBERSHIP FEE UPTO DATE OR OUTSTANDING

THE ORGANISATION SHALL SPECIFY THE CATEGORY UNDER

WHICH THEY ARE STAKING THEIR CLAIM.

The President/Secretary/authorized signatory to the association/organization

shall make and subscribe to a declaration to be sworn before the Notary Public,

verifying that he/she has been duly authorised by the association to file the claim and

the facts stated in the claim application and the particulars attached thereto are true

to the best of his/her knowledge and belief and information.

The claimant organization shall also subscribe to a declaration establishing

that the claim of the said body is valid and free from all encumbrances. The Council

may at its discretion reject any claim if any such encumbrances are brought to its

notice.

No claim made by any person other than a person duly authorised under the

Constitution of the organization shall be entertained.

Any claim not in conformity with the above is liable to be rejected.

The Press Council of India will be within its right to call for such additional

information or verify such information as might be considered necessary.

The organizations notified for the present term of the Press Council ( 2014-

2017) may also take note of this Notice and file fresh claim applications.

No claim made after 5.00 p.m. on 30.11.2016 will be entertained.

Punam Sibbal

Secretary

Press Council of India

(File No. 19/2/2016-PCI)

9

NoticePress Council of India

Extends date of inviting Claims for NotificationthFor 13 term

Under Section 5 (4) of the Press Council Act, 1978,sttill January 31 , 2017

� � � � � � � Dated: 22.12.2016

� The Press Council of India had invited Claim for Notification for th13 Term of the Press Council under section 5 (4) of the Press Council

Act, 1978, by 30.11.2016. The Council has extended date for filing the stclaims till 31 January, 2017, 5: 00 p.m.

� The detailed advertisement for filing the claims may please be seen

at www.presscouncil.nic.in

Punam SibbalSecretary

Press Council of India(File No 19/2/2016-PCI)

10

Report of the Scrutiny Committee

Accepted by the Council on 21.09.2017

This Scrutiny-Committee has been set up by the Council for Scrutiny of the th thclaims received for recognition by the Council for its 13 term. The 12 term of the

Council is coming to an end on 9.10.2017. The reconstitution process was set into thmotion through advertisement dated 30 September, 2016, approved by the Council

on 9.09.2016. A Scrutiny Committee headed by Convener and comprising of seven

members of the Council was set up in January, 2017 for the purpose of scrutinizing

the claims and making recommendations to the Council. The Composition of the

Scrutiny Committee is as follows:

1. Shri Uttam Chand Sharma� Convener

2. Shri Prajnananda Chaudhuri� Member

3. Shri S.N. Sinha� � � Member

4. Shri Ravindra Kumar� � Member

5. Shri Gurinder Singh� � Member

6. Shri Amarnath Kosuri� � Member

7. Shri Rajeev Ranjan Nag� � Member

thIn response to Notice inviting claims for the 13 Term of the Council,15 thclaims were received in the Secretariat by/before the first cutoff date i.e., 30

November, 2016 and after extension of the cutoff date to January 31, 2017, 3 claims

were received. The condition (s) stipulated in the advertisement notice were as

follows:-

th For the reconstitution of the Press Council of India for its 13 term with effect

from October 10, 2017, the Press Council therefore hereby invites national level

registered associations of the following categories to file their respective claims for

notification (or for re-notification of those who had been notified in 2014 for its

twelfth term), by the Press Council under sub-section (4) of Section 5 of the Press

Council Act, 1978:-

Vide clause (a) of Section 5(3):

(i) Associations of the category of editors

11

(ii) Associations of the category of working journalists other than

editors

Vide clause (b) of Section 5(3):

(iii) Associations of persons who own or carry on the business or

management of big, medium and small newspapers.

Vide clause (c) of Section 5(3):

(iv) Associations of persons who manage news agencies or news

agencies individually, in the event of there being no association of

news agencies. (Covered within the ambit of the Working Journalist

Act and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and

Misc. Provisions) Act, 1955 and excluding feature and non-wire

agencies).

CRITERIA

Such associations of the aforesaid categories as would like to stake their

claim in this behalf and who are able to satisfy the Council as to their:

(i)� REGISTRATION under relevant laws of the country FOR AT LEAST

TEN YEARS PRIOR TO LAST DATE OF FILING THE CLAIMS and

should have held REGULAR ELECTIONS according to their

Constitution for the preceding three years.

(ii)� ACTIVE EXISTENCE AND REPRESENTATIVE CHARACTER ON

A NATIONAL BASIS vis a vis the said category.

(iii)� Bonafide membership of persons belonging to the claimant category

in at least 12 States/Union Territories and such

(iv)� Membership of the claimant association being not confined within

the specified category, to any particular group on regional or

language basis etc.

May file their claims (in a sealed envelope marked “Confidential Claims”)

on the letter head of the organisation carrying the registered address for

communication with the CHAIRMAN, PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA, SOOCHNA

BHAWAN, 8, CGO COMPLEX, LODHI ROAD, NEW DELHI-110003, so as to

reach him on or before 30.11.2016 (till 5 p.m.). (Subsequently extended to

31.01.2017).

12

SUPPORTIVE DOCUMENTS

The claims should be accompanied by supportive documents showing that

the organization is eligible according to the above criteria to represent any one of the

categories set out above and also to establish that it is qualified to represent the

category under which it is staking its claim.

Following documents authenticated by Notary Public need to be filed:-

(a)� a copy of the Constitution/MoU of the association

(b) � Copy of the Registration Certificate of the claimant body, with

update renewal certificate wherever applicable

(c ) the last three years audited accounts establishing the annual

membership fee received from its members

(d)� documents to prove the date of establishment of the organization

such as copy of the bank account details, setting out the name and

branch of the bank concerned, the date of opening of the account and

the number of the account. This should be filed with a statement duly

attested by the concerned branch manager of the bank certifying that

the account has been under regular operation.

(e) documents establishing active existence of the body, including

minutes of the General Body meetings for the last three years

preceding the issuance of advertisement filed before the appropriate

authority i.e. Registrar of Societies etc.

(f) an upto date detailed list of its members representing the category

under which the claim is being filed with complete particulars as set

out below, listed state wise, in hard copy as well as soft copy in CD:

(1) SURNAME, FIRST NAME

(2) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS OF THE MEMBER,

(3) T I T L E O F T H E N E W S PA P E R / P E R I O D I C A L B E I N G

REPRESENTED ALONGWITH REGISTRATION NUMBER

(4) LANGUAGE IN WHICH THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL IS

PUBLISHED

(5) NEWSPAPER/PERIODICALS PUBLICATION ADDRESS ALONG

WITH STATE NAME

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(6) OFFICE ADDRESS WITH NAME OF THE STATE AT WHICH THE

MEMBER IS CURRENTLY POSTED

(7) DESIGNATION IN THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL i.e. EDITOR,

W O R K I N G J O U R N A L I S T O T H E R T H A N E D I TO R S ,

OWNER/PUBLISHER OR MANAGER

(8) CIRCULATION OF THE NEWSPAPER/PERIODICAL OWNED OR

MANAGED BY THE MEMBER (INFORMATION REGARDING

THIS POINT TO BE PROVIDED BY ORGANISATIONS FILING

CLAIM UNDER SECTION 5(3)(b)

(9) W H E T H E R M E M B E R O F A N Y O T H E R PA R A L L E L

ORGANISATION

(10) DATE OF JOINING THE ORGANISATION AND

(11) MEMBERSHIP FEE UPTO DATE OR OUTSTANDING

THE ORGANISATION SHALL SPECIFY THE CATEGORY UNDER

WHICH THEY ARE STAKING THEIR CLAIM

The President/Secretary/authorized signatory to the association/

organization shall make and subscribe to a declaration sworn before the Notary

Public, verifying that he/she has been duly authorised by the association to file the

claim and the facts stated in the claim application and the particulars attached

thereto are true to the best of his/her knowledge and belief and information.

The claimant organization shall also subscribe to a declaration establishing

that the claim of the said body is valid and free from all encumbrances. The Council

may at its discretion reject any claim if any such encumbrances are brought to its

notice.

No claim made by any person other than a person duly authorised under the

Constitution of the organization shall be entertained.

Any claim not in conformity with the above is liable to be rejected.

The Press Council of India will be within its right to call for such additional

information or verify such information as might be considered necessary.

The organization notified for the present term of the Press Council (2014-

14

2017) may also take note of this Notice and file fresh claim application.

Guiding Principles settled by the Scrutiny Committee:

1. Any technical imperfections of the associations may be ignored and

the utility and effect of the respective associations/claimant bodies

in the field shall be considered.

2. Scrutiny Committee members who represent/associated/linked to a

claimant body, shall neither participate nor shall give their

views/intervene in the discussion/deliberations pertaining to their

respective claim to avoid conflict of interest. The Committee shall

inform or notify the claimant body for any further query.

3. It shall not interfere in any matter of internal working/disputes of

claimant bodies.

4. Self-attested documents filed by the Claimant bodies shall be

accepted and documents verification by Notary is not a binding as it

is a process, not a legal obligation.

5. Claimant bodies, which appeal for an appearance before the

Scrutiny Committee shall be heard and given a chance. The

Committee can also notify any claimant body to appear before the

committee, if necessary, for any further clarification/explanation

regarding respective claims.

6. RTI applications received in the Secretariat with regard to the th

reconstitution of the Council for its 13 term may be decided by the

Secretariat as per the provisions of RTI Act.

The following claims/file notes by the Press Council Secretariat were

received in response to the advertisements and were considered by the Scrutiny

Committee of the Council in its meetings dated 10.4.2017, 24.5.2017, 11.7.2017 and

22.8.2017 at New Delhi in the light of the criteria stipulated in the advertisement.

Claims filed under Section 5(3)(a) - Associations of the category of editors

1. Hindi Samachar Patra Sammelan.

2. Editors Guild of India.

3. All India Newspaper Editors' Conference.

4. Akhil Bhartiya Samacharpatra Association.

15

Claims filed under Section 5(3)(a) - Associations of the category of working

journalists other than editors

5. Working News Cameramen's Association.

6. Press Association.

7. Indian Federation of Working Journalists (Shri Parmanand Pandey).

8. Indian Journalists Union.

9. Indian Federation of Working Journalists (Shri Vipin Dhuliya).

10. National Union of Journalists (India).

11. All India Journalists Welfare Association.

Claims filed under Section 5(3) (b) - Associations of persons who own or carry on

the business of management of Big, Medium and Small newspapers

12. Association of Small & Medium Newspapers of India.

13. The Indian Newspaper Society.

14. All India Small & Medium Newspapers Federation.

15. Indian Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers. (Mrs. Nina

Batra) (a) Indian Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers.

(Mr. Laxman B. Patel).

Claim filed under Section 5(3) (c) - Associations of persons who manage news

agencies or news agencies individually, in the event of there being no association

of news agencies

16. United News of India.

Category not mentioned

17. All India Small Newspapers Association.

After careful examination of the documents available on record and

interacting with the organizations/claimant bodies, the Scrutiny Committee

recommends to the Council for acceptance of the claims of 11 organizations and

16

rejection of claims of 7 organizations.

CLAIMS ACCEPTED:-

The Scrutiny Committee recommends to the Council to accept the claims of

following organizations whose claims were made out based on records and personal

opportunity of hearing with supportive documents:�

Category 5(3)(a)Associations of the category of Editors

(1) Hindi Samachar Patra Sammelan-� Claim No.1

(2) Editors Guild of India-� Claim No.2

(3) All India Newspaper Editors' Conference- Claim No.3

Category 5(3)(a)Associations of the category of Working Journalists other than

editors� � �

(4) Working News Cameraman's Association�� �Claim No.5

(5) Press Association� � � � �Claim No.6�

(6) Indian Journalist Union� � � � Claim No.8

(7) National Union of Journalists (India)� � �Claim No.10

Category 5(3) (b) Associations of the persons who own or carry on the business

of management of big, medium and small newspapers.

(8) Association of Small and Medium Claim No.12

Newspapers of India.

(considered under Small newspapers category only)

(9) The Indian Newspaper Society Claim No.13

(Small, Medium & Big) �

(10) All India Small & Medium Newspapers Claim No.14 �� Federation (Small & Medium)

Category 5(3) (c) Associations of persons who manage news agencies or news

agencies individually, in the event of there being no association of news agencies

(11)� United News of India� Claim No.16

*The legality of several claimants has been questioned by one claimant organization and Mr. Rajeev

Ranjan Nag vide communication dated 10.07.2017 has while endorsing their views stated that the

17

matter may be placed before the full Council meeting. Other Scrutiny Committee Members concurred

with the proposal to place the letter of Shri Rajeev Ranjan Nag before the Council.

CLAIMS REJECTED:-

The Scrutiny Committee after perusing the records and after giving several

opportunities to claimant bodies, recommended rejection of the following claims.

Category 5(3)(a) Association of the Category of Editors

(1) Akhil Bhartiya Samacharpatra Association� Claim No.4

The Scrutiny Committee examined the claim filed by the Association

and recommends to the Council to reject on the ground that the

membership is open to owners. Besides, the claimant body has not

mentioned/provided the list of members' details of individual

membership fee. The Committee also finds that the records of active

existence of the body does not show that the same have been filed

before the appropriate authority i.e. registration of societies, (UP) th

as per the requirement of the Notice dated 30 September, 2016 of

the Council.

Category of 5 (3) (a) Association of the Category of Working Journalists other

than Editors

(2) Indian Federation of Working Journalists Claim No.7

(Shri Parmanand Pandey factions)� � �

(3) Indian Federation of Working Journalists Claim No.9

(Shri Vikram Rao faction)� � � �

In the opinion of the majority of the members (Shri UC Sharma, S.N.

Sinha, Shri Prajnananda Chaudhuri, Shri Ravindra Kumar, Shri

Gurinder Singh), neither group of persons claiming to represent

the IFWJ was able to conclusively satisfy the Committee on the

veracity of its claim. Accordingly, the committee is of the view that

neither of the claims should be accepted. Hence, the Scrutiny

Committee recommends to the Council to reject both the claims.

The Committee cannot consider the matter as a dispute between

both the factions for recognition of the organization is pending

before the Court of Law.

Shri Rajeev Ranjan Nag dissented and objected to the process by

which the claims are recommended for rejection for non-conformity

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with the requirement of the advertisement notice inviting claims for th

13 terms of the Council.

(4) All India Journalists Welfare Association.� Claim No. 11�

The Scrutiny Committee examined the claim filed by the Association

and recommends to the Council to reject its claim being a Welfare

Association and also not discharging any of the functions that cover

the mandate of Press Council of India.�

Category of 5(3)(b)Association of the persons who own or carry on the business

of management of big, medium and small newspapers

(5) Indian Federation of Small and Medium Claim No. 15

Newspapers�

Scrutiny Committee considered the papers of both the claims and

subsequent communications from claimant no. 15 filed by Mrs. Nina

Batra, withdrawing her claim in favor of Claim 15 (a) filed by Shri

Laxman B. Patel. However on examination of the papers, the

Scrutiny Committee recommends to the Council to reject the claim

for not being in conformity with the requirements of the documents

specified in the “Notice” of Claim advertisement dated 30/09/2016.

Category not specified�

(6) All India Small Newspapers Association �� Claim No.17

The Committee having considered the claim of this Association in its

meeting held on 10.4.2017 recommends to the Council to reject the

same as there was no mention of the category. However,

subsequently having noticed that the claim application mentioned

that the AISNA nominates to members, Ms. Arti Tripathi, owner,

editor, publisher, Urja Times, and Arun Kumar Tripathi, owner,

editor, publisher, Jan Express, for the membership of the Council.

Ms. Aarti Tripathi, National General Secretary, Arun Kumar Tripathi,

National Secrtary, Dilbagh Singh President, Legal Advisory Committee

represented AISNA to provide clarification with regard to the claim dated

30.11.2016. The Committee having heard of the clarification(s) provided by

them, decided to reject the claim of AISNA for not being in conformity with the

19

requirement of the documents as well as no sufficient clarifications on

appropriate category for their claim.

The Report is placed before the Council for consideration.

20

DissentNoteinrespectoftheReportoftheScrutinyCommitteeforconstitutionof

th13 termofPCI

The notice inviting claims for notification inter alia provides as follows,

“CRITERIA

Such associations of the aforesaid categories as would like to stake their claim in this behalf and who are able to satisfy the Council as to their:

(iv) Membership of the claimant association being not confined within the specified category, to any particular group on regional or language basis etc.”

** ** **

“SUPPORTIVE DOCUMENTS

The claims should be accompanied by supportive documents showing that the organization is eligible according to the above criteria to represent any one of the categories set out above and also to establish that it is qualified to represent the category under which it is staking its claim.

Following documents authenticated by Notary Public need to be filed:-

(a) A copy of the Constitution/MOU of the association

(b) Copy of the Registration Certificate of the claimant body, with update renewal certificate wherever applicable

(c) The last three years audited accounts establishing the annual membership fee received from its members

(d) Documents to prove the date of establishment of the organization such as copy of the bank account details, setting out the name and branch of the bank concerned, the date of opening of the account and the number of the account. This should be filed with a statement duly attested by the concerned branch manager of the bank certifying that the account has been under regular operation.

(e) Documents establishing active existence of the body, including

21

minutes of the General Body meetings for the last three years preceding the issuance of advertisement filed before the appropriate authority i.e. Registrar of Societies etc.

(f) An up to date detailed list of its members representing the category under which the claim is being filed with complete particulars as set out below, listed state wise, in hard copy as well as soft copy in CD”

The notice further required the claimant organisation to "subscribe to a declaration establishing that the claim of the said body is free from all encumbrances”

The notice further provided as follows:-

"No claim made by any person other than a person duly authorised under the Constitution of the organization shall be entertained. Any claim not in conformity with the above is liable to be rejected. The Press Council of India will be within its right to call for such additional information or verify such information as might be considered necessary”.

The Scrutiny Committee, for the scrutiny of the claims has drawn up guiding principles, relevant portion thereof, read as follows,

1. "Any technical imperfections of the associations may be ignored and the utility and effect of the respective associations/claimant bodies in the field shall be considered.”

2. “Scrutiny Committee members who represent/associated/linked to a claimant body, shall neither participate nor shall give their views/intervene in the discussion/deliberations pertaining to their respective claim to avoid conflict of interest. The Committee shall inform or notify the claimant body for any further query”.

** ** ** **

4. “Self-attested documents filed by the Claimant bodies shall be accepted and documents verification by Notary is not a binding as it is a process, not a legal obligation.”

** ** ** **

In my opinion, the "guiding principles”, settled by the Scrutiny committee run counter to the terms of the advertisement. One has to bear in mind that while scrutinising the claim, the criteria and requirement need to be strictly

22

followed and complied. Their non-compliance cannot be ignored on a specious plea of "technical imperfections”. Further, the utility and effect of the claimants in the field are subjective in nature and would not have been taken into account by the Scrutiny Committee. All the claims should have been considered at the touchstone of the terms of the public notice inviting claims and not on the basis of decisions taken in meetings and that too without giving public notice.

The advertisement required the documents to be authenticated by notary public. Several bodies/associations have filed documents which are not authenticated by a notary public. The Scrutiny Committee has, however, dispensed with this requirement and decided to accept the self-attested documents from the associations/bodies. No public notice was issued for the purpose. Thus the decision, taken by the Scrutiny Committee overrides the terms of the advertisement, which in my opinion is impermissible in law.

While inviting claims, the Council had reserved its "right to call for such additional information or verify such information as might be considered necessary”.

The notice further made it clear that claim not in conformity with the terms of notice is liable to be rejected. From the perusal of the preliminary scrutiny note, it is evident that many of the supportive documents which were required to be accompanied with the claim were not filed before the due date. They have been allowed to be filed later on and were taken into consideration to decide their eligibility by the Scrutiny Committee. No such opportunity was given to other claimants. In the garb of calling for additional information, in my opinion, the Committee ought not to have allowed and considered the documents which were required to be accompanied along with the claims.

The criteria drawn by the Council inter alia prohibits notification of such associations whose membership is confined within the specified category or to any particular group on regional or language basis, etc. One of the associations which have been recognised has its membership confined to a specified category of journalists and therefore not eligible for recognition.

The claimants, in terms of the notice inviting claims, were required to subscribe to a declaration that they are free from all encumbrances, and no claim made by any person other than a person duly authorised under the constitution of the organization shall be entertained. Few of the associations/bodies who have been found eligible and recognised by the Scrutiny Committee have not fulfilled these requirements.

23

As per the notice, the claimants were required to file papers before the appropriate authority, i.e., Registrar of Societies, etc. to prove their active existence. Several associations/bodies who have been recommended for recognition by the Scrutiny Committee, have not fulfilled this criteria as per the advertisement notice.

Even today all the requirements have not been fulfilled by few associations and the Scrutiny Committee has recommended for their recognition.

Further, the constitution of the Scrutiny Committee and the procedure followed for its constitution, in my opinion, is vulnerable for the following reasons:-

th The Council in its meeting dated 9 September 2016 resolved that the Chairman will scrutinise the claims of associations/bodies for recognition for the 13th term of the Council under Section 5(4) of the Press Council Act, 1978, and thereafter the report shall be placed before the Council. The minute of the

thmeeting was confirmed by the Council on 17 November 2016 and the notice inviting claim was published in various newspapers.

Later, in view of the majority opinion, the Chairman extended the time for submission of the claim. Thereafter, an extraordinary meeting of the Council

thwas convened on 19 January 2017 to consider the decision taken by the Chairman. The only agenda of the requisition meeting was to consider the extension of time granted by the Chairman. However, in this meeting, the Council by majority constituted a Scrutiny Committee of seven members for scrutinising the claims of the associations/bodies. The constitution of the Scrutiny Committee was not an item on the agenda. The Chairman expressed his dissent to the constitution of the Scrutiny Committee.

The ScrutinyCommittee, so constituted comprises of seven members and all of them are associated with one or the other associations/bodies who have submitted their claims for recognition. From the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee, it appears that when the cases of the associations/bodies were taken up the members associated with those bodies/associations recused. In this way, one or the other member of the Scrutiny Committee recused from deliberation in every case. Conflict of interest is thus writ large and in my opinion, it is in patent violation of the principle of natural justice. As such the constitution of such a Committee goes to the very root of the matter and its recommendation is not fit to be accepted on this ground alone.

24

Further, the constitution of the Scrutiny Committee, in the extraordinary meeting of the Council is also illegal for more than one reasons. The constitution of Scrutiny Committee was not an item on the agenda. Therefore, this issue was not to be discussed or decision taken. Further, this is in the teeth of the Council's

ndearlier resolution dated 22 October 2016, which mandates that in the extraordinary meeting of the Council, deliberation in relation to the item shown in the agenda can only take place. Thus the decision to constitute the Scrutiny Committee suffers from this vice also.

Thus, in my opinion, the recommendation of the Scrutiny Committee, as approved by the Council by majority suffers from the vice of procedural and substantive ultra vires.

(Chandramauli Kumar Prasad)

Chairman

25

26

(2) All India Small and Medium As representative body of Owners and Newspaper Federation Managers of Medium and Small Newspapers

(3) Association of Small and Medium As representative body of Owners & Managers of Small Newspapers

(III) News Agencies for the purpose of nominating a person from the category of persons referred to in Clause (c) of sub-Section (3) of Section 5:-

(1) United News of India

VIBHA BHARGAVA. Secy

[ADVT- III/4Exty/295/17]

� � � � �

27

Order dated 15.2.2018

The process for constitution of the next term of the Council was placed for consideration before the Council on 9.9.2016. This was with the sole objective of having the Council in place soon after the expiry of the term of the Council on 9.10.2017. The Council on the same day decided to entrust the work of the scrutiny of claims of the Associations to the Chairman. However, later on 19.1.2017 the Council rescinded its decision and constituted the Scrutiny Committee consisting of its own members for scrutiny of claims of various Associations. The Scrutiny Committee submitted its report on 4.9.2017 which was placed for consideration before the Council in its meeting held on 21.9.2017. The Council by majority (Chairman and Mr. R R Nag, Former Member, dissenting) accepted the report of Scrutiny Committee. The names of the Associations as accepted by the Council were notified in Extra Ordinary Gazette on 26.10.2017. Thereafter by letter dated 24.11.2017, panels of names were invited from the notified Associations, containing twice the number of eligible persons.

Notified Associations have filed the panels. When it came up for consideration before me on 18.1.2018, prima facie being satisfied that the various infirmities found in the panels shall have bearing on nomination, I, while pointing out those infirmities gave direction for issuance of Notice to the

thAssociations and all concerned, fixing 5 February, 2018 for hearing, while doing so I observed as follows:

“On perusal of the record I find that the panels submitted by Editors Guild of India, Hindi Samachar Patra Sammelen and All India Newspaper Editors Conference for the nomination of Editors among the Working Journalist categories do not contain twice the number of members to be nominated under the said category.

Further Ms. Manini Chaterjee and Mr. Juned Ahamad do not claim to be the Editor.

The Panels of names filed by the Indian Journalists Union, National Union of Journalists (India), Press Association and Working News Cameramen's Association for nomination under the category of Working Journalists other than Editors contain the name of Shri JoginderSingh Chawla, Shri S N Sinha, Shri Ras Bihari, Shri Geetartha Pathak, Shri Harish Chand Tiwari, Shri Jagdish Chandra Verma, Shri

28

Pradeep Sharma and Shri Suresh Kumar V.S.. They do not claim to be employed as Journalists, either whole time or part time in or in relation to one or more newspaper establishment.

Similarly panels submitted by The Indian Newspaper Society, All India Small and Medium Newspapers Federation and Association of Small and Medium Newspapers of India for nomination from among persons who own or carry on the business of management of newspaper, do not contain twice the number of members to be nominated under the said category. Further the documents filed along with the panels do not show that Shri Rakesh Sharma, Shri H N Cama, Shri Ashok Kumar Navratan, Shri L C Bhartiya, Shri Kundun Raman Lal Vyas, Shri Kalyan Barooah and Shri Deepak Singh are owners or carrying on the business of management of newspaper.

The panel filed under the category of persons who manage News Agencies, do not show that they manage News Agencies. The aforesaid infirmities shall have bearing on the nominations. The panels given by the Associations as also the chart prepared by the office on the basis of information be put on the website of the Council for information to the Associations and all concerned.

Further, notice be issued to the Associations and all concerned by email and Registered post. ”

In response to the notice the Associations through their office bearers, individual named in the panel and persons interested in the constitution of Council (list Enclosed) appeared and made their submissions.

At the outset, the representatives of few Associations objected to the decision of the Chairman to have public hearing on the issue of nomination and their prayer is that this be held in camera in which the nominee and the office bearers of the notified Associations be only allowed. This submission has only been noted to be rejected. The matter concerns the constitution of a statutory body, whose obligation is to ensure the freedom of the press and maintain its ethical standard. Nation has interest in constitution of such a body and hence it looks abhorrent to me that the process of formation of such a body be shrouded in secrecy.

On merit their plea is that once the Associations have given panels of names, the Chairman is bound to make nomination from them under Section 5 (4) of the Press Council Act. They point out that the legislature has left it to the

29

wisdom of the Associations to submit the panels of names and the Chairman has no authority to sit over their wisdom. Section 5 of The Press Council Act provides for the composition of the Council, same reads as follows:

5. Composition of the Council:

(1) The Council shall consist of a Chairman and twenty-eight other members.

(2) The Chairman shall be a person nominated by a Committee consisting of the Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), the Speaker of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and a person elected by the members of the Council under sub-section (6) and the nominations so made shall take effect from the date on which it is notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette.

(3) Of the other members-

(a) thirteen shall be nominated in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed from among the working journalists of whom six shall be editors of newspapers and the remaining seven shall be working journalists other than editors, so, however, that the number of such editors and working journalists other than editors in relation to newspapers published in Indian languages shall be not less than three and four respectively;

(b) six shall be nominated in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed from among persons who own or carry on the business of management of newspapers, so, however, that there shall be two representatives from each of the categories of big newspapers, medium newspapers and small newspapers;

(c) One shall be nominated in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed from among persons who manage news agencies;

(d) three shall be persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of education and science, law and literature and culture of whom respectively one shall be nominated by the University Grants Commission, one by the

30

Bar Council of India and one by the Sahitya Academy;

(e) five shall be members of Parliament of whom three shall be nominated by the Speaker from among the members of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and two shall be nominated by the Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) from among its members;

Provided that no working journalist who owns, or carries on the business of management of any newspaper shall be eligible for nomination under clause (a); Provided further that the nomination under clause (a) and clause (b) shall be so made that the among the persons nominated there is not more than one person interested in any newspaper or group of newspapers under the same control of management.

Explanation;“For the purpose of clause (b),“newspaper” shall be deemed to be categorized as big, medium or small newspaper on the basis of its circulation per issue, as the Central Government, may, by notification in the official gazette, notify from time to time.

(4) Before making any nomination under clause (a), clause (b) or clause (c) of sub-section (3). the Central Government in the case of the first Council and the retiring Chairman of the previous Council in the case of any subsequent Council shall, in the prescribed manner, invite panels of names comprising twice the number of members to be nominated from such associations of persons of the categories referred to in the said clause (a) clause (b) or clause (c) as may be notified in this behalf by the Central Government in the case of the first Council and by the Council itself in the case of subsequent Councils;

Provided that where there is no association of persons of the category referred to in said clause (c) , the panels of names shall be invited from such news agencies as may be notified as aforesaid.

(5) The Central Government shall notify the names of persons nominated as members under sub-section (3) in the Official Gazette and every such nomination shall take effect from the date on which it is notified.

(6) The members of the Council notified under sub-section (5) shall

31

elect from among themselves in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed a person to be a member of the Committee referred to in sub-section (2) and a meeting of the members of the Council for the purpose of such election shall be presided over by a person chosen from among themselves.

I do not have the slightest hesitation in accepting the broad submission that while considering the issue of nomination, the Chairman under Section 5 (4) of the Press Council Act cannot go into the intrinsic merit or interse merit of the names given in the panels by the Associations. The Chairman cannot tinker with the discretion of the recommending Associations but at the same time he is not obliged just to act as a Post Office. The legislature has put a statutory obligation on the Chairman to make nomination and in my opinion while exercising this obligation he has to examine the basic eligibility of the candidates seeking nomination under specified category. In case such candidates lack basic eligibility, the Chairman shall be well within his rights not to nominate such candidates. This may happen in rare cases but in case it happens and recommendations suffer from the patent illegality or on error apparent on the face of the record, Chairman cannot be a mute spectator. In such cases the law obliges him to interfere. The view I have taken, finds support from Judgment of Delhi High Court in the case of Suraj Prakash v/s Union of India & Others dated 15.11.1990 wherein it has been held as follows:

“Consequently, it is found that the retiring Chairman of the previous Council is the appropriate authority for making nominations of persons, inter alia, from the category referred to in clause (a) of sub-section 3 of Section 5 of the Act”

The Editors Guild of India, Hindi Samachar Patra Samellan and All India Newspapers Editors Conference have filed the panels of names under the category of Editors. Six members are required to be nominated under this category, however, these Associations have not filed “twice the number of member to be nominated” under the Editors' category. They have filed only six names, further two of the names in the panels i.e. Ms. Manini Chatterjee and Shri Juned Ahamad do not claim to be the Editors but claim the designation of “Editor (National Affairs)” and “News Editor” respectively.

Similarly, Indian Newspaper Society, All India Small & Medium Newspapers Federation and Association of Small & Medium Newspapers of India have not filed twice the numbers of members to be nominated under the

32

category of Owners or those carrying on the business of management of newspapers. Six members, two each from Big, Medium and Small categories need to be nominated.

Both plead that as all the Associations of Editors and Associations of Owners or Managers of newspapers have joined together and have given six common names in their respective panels, it is not necessary to give twice the number of members to be nominated under these categories. It has been pointed out that such panels which did not contain twice the number of members were routinely accepted by the Chairman in past.

They also contend that “it was only a request of the PCI Secretariat and it is not the requirement of the Act.”

In any of the view of the matter, according to them, this is a mistake of insignificant nature and fit to be ignored.

All these submissions sans merit and deserve to be rejected. Section 5 of the Press Council Act, has been quoted in the preceding part of this order. From a plain reading of Section 5(4) of the Press Council Act, it is evident that before making any nomination the retiring Chairman “shall invite panels of names comprising twice the number of members to be nominated from such Associations of persons”.

The use of the word “shall” by the legislature raises the presumption that the provision to invite panels of names twice the number of members to be nominated is imperative. I am conscious of the fact that prima facie inference about provision being imperative is rebuttable, in case the objects, scope of the enactment and consequence flowing from such construction lead to contrary view. When I examine the case keeping in mind the aforesaid principle, I find that this is a step in the direction of constitution of a statutory body, which has been entrusted with the task of preserving the freedom of the press. Does the law gives discretion to the Chairman to invite panels of names comprising less number of persons in the specified category, From the imperative language of the Act as also keeping in view the object behind the legislation, the answer is emphatic 'no'. Thus, when Chairman has no option to invite panels of names of less number of persons in each category, it does not stand to reason how liberty can be given to the Associations not to give “ twice the numbers” to be nominated in each category.

It has to be borne in mind that law governing nomination of person to a

33

statutory body needs to be strictly construed. In matter of such nature when the law contemplates a particular thing to be done in specified manner, it needs to be done in that manner. This is statutory requirement and in fact while inviting panels, the referred requirement was pointed out to all the Associations to send twice the number of members to be nominated. To put the record straight during the course of hearing the representative of the Indian Newspaper Society went to the extent of saying that while inviting panels the retiring Chairman did not ask for sending “ twice the number of members”. However, when confronted with the communication, he withdrew the statement.

Admittedly the Associations of Editors and Associations of owners or those who carry the business of management of newspapers, have in their panels not given the names comprising twice the number of members to be nominated from such Associations of persons. The Chairman is under the obligation to make nomination from the panels submitted in conformity with law. As the panel submitted is not in accordance with law, in my opinion, it would be impermissible to make nominations from such panels.

As the last straw the appeal of those Associations is to ignore this mistake in the name of compassion and benevolence, pointing out that earlier nominations used to be made from such defective panels. It is true that law must be tampered with justice but this does not mean that in the name of compassion and benevolence, provisions of law can be allowed to be subverted and that too at the hands of those who are not illiterate and expected to be conscience keeper of the Nation. Nothing has been brought to my notice which could show that this issue was pointedly considered ever and the provision of law though noticed but ignored or interpreted differently.

For all those reasons, I am of the opinion that panels submitted by the Associations of Editors and of Owners or Managers of newspapers are defective.

It is worth mentioning here that the panels submitted by the Associations in the category of Editors do contain the names of Ms. Manini Chatterjee and Mr. Juned Ahamad. Ms. Chatterjee does not claim to be the Editor in any newspaper but foundation of her claim, as would be evident from the panels submitted is that she is the “Editor National Affairs” of “The Telegraph”. Similarly claim of Mr. Ahamad is based on the assertion that he is the “News Editor” of “Chingari”.

It is the contention of Mr. Prakash Dube that Ms. Chatterjee is a valid member of the Editors Guild of India and therefore entitled to be nominated under the category of Editors. The constitution of Guild may allow an “Editor

34

National Affairs” to be its member but for the purpose of eligibility for nomination under the Editors' category, in my opinion, the candidate has to be Editor within the meaning of “Editor” as defined under the Press Council Act.

As regards Mr. Ahamad, Mr. Uttam Chand Sharma submits that in view of the volume of material in a newspaper, one Editor cannot look into the entire matter of a Newspaper and therefore employs different types of Editors to oversee different subjects covered by the newspapers i.e. News Editor and Mr. Ahamad being one of such Editors is eligible to be nominated.

None of these submissions have any merit. In my opinion, for nomination as the member of the Council in the category of Editors, the candidate has to satisfy the requirement of Editor under the Press Council Act. The eligibility of a person to be a member of Guild or for that matter, necessity for having Editors for different subjects carried in newspapers, are of no consequence.

Bearing in mind the principle aforesaid, when I proceed to examine the claim of Ms. Chatteijee and Mr. Ahamad, I am of the opinion that both of them are not eligible to become the members of the Council under the category of Editors. According to Section 2 (e) of the Press Council Act, the expression 'editor' unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the meaning assigned under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. According to Section 1 of PRB Act, “Editor means the person who controls the selection of the matter that is published in newspaper”. Both neither claim nor I am prepared to accept that they control the selection of the matters that is published in their respective newspapers.

While objecting to the nomination of Mr. Ahamad, it has been stated that “he is personal attendant of Mr. Uttam Chand Sharma and has nothing to do with journalism”. Editors Guild of India attempted to wash of its hand saying it is for the organization who has given his name in the panel to defend it, forgetting that his name also finds place in the panel submitted by it.

Be that as it may, in my opinion the allegation that Mr. Ahamad is personal attendant of Mr. Uttam Chand Sharma has no bearing on his eligibility and therefore it is unnecessary to go into this question any further.

It is worth mentioning here that the various Wage Boards constituted under the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employee (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act have treated Editors and News

35

Editor, Chief News, Editor Resident Editors etc. in different groups. From the conspectus of what I have observed above, I am of the opinion that both of them are not eligible for nomination under the category of Editors.

The errors pointed out above being apparent on the face of the record, I refrain from making any nomination in the category of Editors.

In the category of person who own or carry on the business of management of newspapers, the panels inter-alia contain the names of Mr. Rakesh Sharma, Mr. H. N. Cama, Mr. Ashok Kumar Navratan, Mr. L. C. Bhartiya, Shri Kalyan Barooah and Mr. Deepak Singh. Finding that the documents filed along with the panels do not establish their claim of being owner or carrying on the business of management of newspaper, notice was given to them and Associations which had given their names in the panel. Subsequent thereto, documents have been filed to substantiate their respective claims. Taking into consideration those, I proceed to consider their eligibility.

i. Mr. Rakesh Sharma- His claim for nomination is in the category of Big Newspaper. Associations giving his name in the panel assert that he is owner of the Newspaper whereas, in Bio Data filed shows him to be Managing Editor of Rashtradoot. However in support no document was produced. The declaration filed later on shows that he is major coparcener of HUF which owns the Newspaper of which Rajesh Sharma is a Karta. He has been shown as Managing Editor of the Newspaper Rastradoot, which suggests that he is engaged in the business of management of the Newspaper.

ii. Mr. H. N. Cama- His nomination has been sought for in the category of Medium Newspaper and Associations claim that he is the owner of Gujrati Daily “Mumbai Samachar”. The documents filed do not show him to be the owner of the newspaper, instead the Certificate of Registration shows the Mumbai Samachar Pvt. Ltd. to be the owner of the Newspaper. Document filed subsequently show Mr. Cama to be the whole time director of the Bombay Samachar Pvt. Ltd. who owns the Newspaper. A whole time director or equity share holder of a company does not become the owner of the Newspaper individually. It is the company which is the owner of the newspaper and may nominate a person for its management. Nothing has been placed on record to show any such authentication so as to make him eligible for nomination under the category of owner. Further, the

36

records show that the Newspaper with the same title “Mumbai Samachar” is published daily and weekly having different registration numbers. The rules provide for furnishing the figures relating to total circulation of all the editions. The Associations while submitting the panels have not given the entire figure which shall have bearing to determine the category. For all these reasons Mr. Cama is found to be ineligible.

iii. Mr. Ashok Kumar Navratan- He has been nominated under the medium category. He claims to be the Managing Editor of NCR Today and document filed subsequently supports his claim.

iv. Mr. L C Bhartiya- His nomination is in the medium category. The documents filed in support showed him as an Editor. However, the Revised Certificate of Registration dated 12.7.2017 filed subsequently shows him to be owner of the Newspaper “Akashdeep”. Thus he is eligible.

v. Mr. Kundan R. Vyas- His claim is under the small category. The document filed later on show him to be the Managing Editor and CEO of the 'trust which owns the Newspaper “Phulchhab”. Thus he is eligible.

vi.� Mr. Kalyan Barooah- His claim is under small category. There is nothing on record to show either he owns or carries on the business of the management of newspaper “AsamBani”. The letter written by Managing Director of “AsamBani” addressed to Indian Newspapers Society for nomination under the particular category is not sufficient to make him eligible. He is therefore, found ineligible for the nomination.

vii. Shri Deepak Singh- His claim is under the small category. The certificate given by the owner of the Newspaper “Pyara Rastra” weekly subsequently shows him to be the Managing Editor. Thus he is eligible.

For the reasons stated above I am not inclined to make any nomination under the category of persons who own or carry on the business of management of the newspapers.

Association of Working Journalist other than Editors i.e. Press Association, Working News Cameraman Association, Indian Journalists Union and National Union of Journalists (I), have filed panels containing twice the

37

number of members to be nominated under the category of Working Journalist other than Editors. Before I proceed to consider the names indicated in the panels submitted by the above Associations for nomination under the category of 'Working Journalist' other than Editors, it would be apt to consider the meaning of the expression Working Journalist. Section 2 (e) of the Press Council Act provides that unless the context otherwise requires the expression 'working journalists' shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1955, hereinafter referred to as the Act, Section 2 (f) of the Act defines the working journalist, it reads as follows:

2 Definitions:

* * * * * * * * * *

(f) “working journalist” means a person whose principal avocation is that of a journalist and who is employed as such, either whole-time or part-time, in, or in relation to, one or more newspaper establishment and includes an editor, a leader, writer, news-editor, sub-editor, feature-writer, copy-tester, reporter, correspondent, cartoonist, news-photographer and proof-reader, but does not include any such person who -

(i) is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or

(ii) being employed in a supervisory capacity, performs, either by the nature of the duties attached to his office or by reason of the powers vested in him, function mainly of a managerial nature:

* * * * * * * * * *

From a plain reading of the aforesaid provision it is evident that to come within the definition of Working Journalist one has to fulfill the following requirement:

a. The person's principal avocation should be that of the journalist;

b. Such person should be employed as such i.e. journalist;

c. Such employment has to be either whole time or part time;

d. The whole time and part time employment has to be in, or in

38

relation to, one or more newspaper establishment;

According to the assertion of the nominating Associations themselves Mr. Joginder Singh Chawla, Mr. S N Sinha, Mr. Ras Bihari, Mr. Geetartha Pathak, Mr. Harish Chand Tiwari, Mr. Jagdish Chandra Verma, Mr. Pradeep Sharma and Mr. Suresh Kumar V.S are freelancers and it is not their claim that they are employed as journalists either whole time or part time in, or in relation to, one or more newspaper establishment. Some of these persons claim to be the Working Journalist on the basis of the identity cards issued by the Press Information Bureau. Further some of the freelancers have subsequently, filed few 'clippings' of their publication in different newspapers to claim nomination under the 'Working Journalist category'. However, nothing has been placed on record to show that they are employed as journalist, either whole time or part time. Further it is not their claim that any such employment is in, or relation to one or more newspaper establishment. This question came up for consideration before the Delhi High Court in the case of Suraj Prakash v/s Union of India & Others dated 15.11.1990 and on review of the relevant provision of the Press Council Act, held as follows:

“Two conditions must be fulfilled to qualify a person to be a working journalist. First, that he must be a journalist whose principal avocation is that of a journalist. Secondly, that he must be employed as such in, or in relation to, any newspaper establishment (See The Management of Express Newspapers Ltd, v. B. Somayajulu and others. Air 1984 S.C. 279) (7). There is no controversy about the principal avocation of respondent No. 3 as a journalist. The second condition has two components. The two components are: first, that the concerned person should be employed' and die second, that he should be employed as a working journalist' in, or in relation to, any establishment. Both these factors must co-exist so as to bring a person within the definition of a working journalist in relation to any particular establishment(s)."

The Press Council Act provides for nomination of persons who are 'working journalist' as defined under the Act. The rules of the Press Information Bureau may allow any journalist, to be accredited with it but that itself shall not be enough to make him eligible for nomination under section 5 (3) (a) of the Press Council Act. It has to be borne in mind that section 5 (3) (a) of the Press Council Act mandates that the number of Working Journalist other than Editors

39

of newspapers published in Indian language shall be not less than four. The freelancers do not claim to be employed with any newspaper either whole time or part time and in the absence of thereof it shall not be possible to ascertain the language in which they are to be nominated.

For all these reasons I am of the opinion that the freelancers not employed as journalists either whole time or part time in or in relation to one or more newspaper establishment are ineligible for nomination under the category of Working Journalist other than Editors.

Applying this principle, I hold that freelancers named above are not eligible for nomination under this category.

As regards other names in the panel i.e. Mr. C K Nayak, Mr. Amar Devulapalli, Mr. Jai Shankar Gupta, Mr. Pravat Kumar Dash, Ms. Sabina Inderjit, Mr. Kamal Nain Narang, Mr. Balbir Singh Jandu, Mr. Md. Abdul Majid, Mr. Y Narender Reddy, Mr. Aditya Raj Das, Mr. Bisheshwar Mishra, Mr. Inder Dutt Vashisth, Mr. Balwinder Singh Jammu, Mr. Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, Mr. Pramod Kumar, Mr. Prajnananda Chaudhari, Mr. Anand Prakash Rana, Mr. Rajat Kumar Gupta, Mr. Rakesh Praveer, except for Mr. Pravat Kumar Dash, the Associations have not filed any document to substantiate their claim that they are Working Journalists eligible for nomination under the category of Working Journalists other than Editors . So far Mr. Amar Devulapalli is concerned, there is serious objection to his nomination on the ground that he is a TV journalist and not employed in any newspaper. Similar objection is raised against Ms. Sabina Inderjit that she owns and manages a news agency INFA and therefore, disentitled to be nominated under the category of Working Journalist other than Editors.

In the facts of the present case, I deem it expedient to give opportunity to all these Associations who had given the names of the aforesaid 18 persons as also the concerned persons to place on record the evidence to substantiate their

ndclaim by 22 February, 2018.

So far as the nomination of person managing the news agency is concerned, they have filed twice the number of members to be nominated under this category but initially had not filed any document to show that the person named in the panel, in fact manages the news agency. Now such a document is filed that makes the person shown as first choice, eligible for nomination.

As observed earlier, the panels submitted for the nomination under the

40

category of Editors and persons who own or carry on the business of management of newspaper are illegal and panels under category of Working Journalists other than Editors and persons who manages the news agencies only are in accordance with law.

The matter shall come up on 26.2.2018 at 11:30 am to consider whether it shall be permissible to make nominations under rest of the categories i.e. Working Journalists other than Editors and person who manage news agencies as also to determine the eligibility of 18 persons named above for nomination under the category of Working Journalists other than Editors.

This order be communicated to all the Associations, the persons found ineligible, 18 persons named above and all those who appeared on the earlier occasion by email, speed post and be put on the website of the Council for information to all.

(Chandramauli Kumar Prasad)Chairman

15.02.2018

41

Attendance of the meeting held on 05.02.2018 in the Conference hall of PCI

I Working Journalists who are Editors

1. Hindi Samachar Patra Samelan

S.No Name Designation

1 Sh. U C Sharma President

2 Sh. Juned Ahamad Representative

2. Editors Guild lndia

3. Sh. Prakash Dubey Gen Secy.

3.� All India Newspapers Editors Conference

4. Sh. U C Sharma Vice President

Working Journalists other than Editors

4. Working News Cameramen Association

5 Sh. Joginder Chawla Gen Secy.

6 Sh. M K Mahadev Rao President

5. Press Association

7 Sh. Jaishankar Gupta President

8 Sh.CKNayak

6. Indian Journalists Union

9 Sh. S N Sinha President

10 Sh. K Amarnath NEC Member

7. National Union of Journalists (India)

11 Sh. Ras Bihari President

12 Sh. Anand Rana Convenor Delhi Unit

ANNEXURE

42

II. Owner & Managers of Big, Medium & Small Newspapers

1. The lndian Newspaper Society

13 Sh. Luv Saksena Gen Secy.

14 Ms GarimaTyagi Dubey Asst. Secy.

15 Sh. P R Rawat Manager

16 Sh. Vijay Kumar Chopra Director-Owner

17 Sh. Kalyan Barooah INS

Owners& Managers of Medium & Small Newspapers

2. All India Small & Medium Newspapers Federation

18 Sh. Gurinder Singh President

19 Sh. Ashok Kumar Navratan

20 Sh. L C Bhartiya Member

21 Sh. Sanjay Sharma Member

Owners & Managers of Small Newspapers

3.� Association of Small & Medium Newspapers of India

22 Sh. K D Chandola President

III. News Agencies

United News of India

23 Sh. Vinay Kumar Consulting Editor

24 Sh. K K Uniyal CoB UNI, VARTA

Others

25 Sh. Vipin Gupta Office, IFWJ

26 Sh. K Vikarm Rao President, IFWJ

27 Sh. Vipin Dhuliya Secretary, IFWJ

28 Sh. R P Yadav Treasurer, IFWJ

29 Sh. C M Papnai Gen Secy., IFWJ

30 Sh. R R Nag Press Association

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Order dated 28.2.2018

th By order dated 15 February 2018, I have held the panels submitted by

the Associations of the editors and of those who own or carry on the business of management of newspapers to be illegal. I have also found that few of the persons named in those panels are ineligible for nomination.

In such a situation, the question which arises for consideration is as to whether I should make nominations from the panels submitted by the associations other than the associations referred to above.

I am of the opinion, that making nominations confined to the categories of working journalists other than editors and from among persons who manage news agency would defeat the purpose for which the Council is constituted. The Council shall be deprived of the wisdom of the editors and owners in the process. Accordingly, I direct that the date fixed for the submission of the panels in the Notice dated November 24, 2017, be extended by 3.00 pm of March 15, 2018. All the notified Associations be given option to file fresh panels, if they so desire, by the aforesaid date and time. All terms and conditions as also the eligibility for filing the nomination shall remain the same as notified in Notice dated

thNovember 24, 2017. The meeting shall be held on 20 of March 2018, for finalising the names for nomination, all concerned may be informed accordingly.

This order be put on the website of the Council.

(Chandramauli Kumar Prasad)Chairman

28.02.2018

44

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

NOTIFICATIONthNew Delhi, the 16 March, 2018

S.O. 1194(E).-In pursuance of sub-section (5) of section 5 of the Press Council Act, 1978 (37 of 1978), read with clause (d) and (e) of sub-section (3) of section 5 the Press Council Act, 1978, the Central Government hereby notifies the names of the following persons nominated as members to the Press Council of India for a period of three years from the date of publication of this notification in the Official Gazette, namely :-

Persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of education and science, law and literature and culture [nominated under clause (d) of sub-section (3) of section 5]

1 Prof. (Ms.) Sushma Yadav,� Nominated by University Grants Commission Member, University Grants Commission,

rd AFS 13-14, 3 Floor, IIPA Hostel, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Ring Road, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002

2 Shri Manan Kumar Mishra,� Nominated by Bar Council of India Senior Advocate & Chairman, Bar Council of India, 17/303, East End Apartments, Near New Ashod Nagar Metro Station, Mayur Vihar Phase-I Extension Delhi-110096

3. Dr. K. Sreenivasarao Nominated by Sahitya AkademiSecretary, Sahitya Akademi,Rabindra Bhawan,35, ferozeshah Road,New Delhi-110001

45

Members of Parliament [nominated under clause (e) of sub-section (3) of section 5]

4. Shri T.G. Venkatesh Babu Present Address: 132, South Avenue, New Delhi-110011Permanent Address: 12/19, Shanmugarayan Street,Purasawakkam, Chennai,Tamil Nadu-600007

5. Smt. Meenakshi LekhiPresent-cum-Permanent Address:C-98A, South Nominated by the Speaker of the House of the Extension, Part-II, PeopleNew Delhi-110049.

6. Shri Prathap SimhaPresent Address: 36, South Avenue,New Delhi-110011. Permanent Address:Jaladarshini,DC-2 Cottage, Hunsur Main Road,Mysore, Karnataka -570005

7. Dr. Vinay p. SahasrabuddcPresent Address:Bunglow No. 17,Ferozeshah Road,New Delhi- 110001.Permanent Address: 103, Surabhi Co-op. Housing Society, Green Road Louis Wadi, Nominated by the Chairman of the Council of Thane (West)- 400604. States.

8. Shri Swapwan DasguptaPresent Address : 14, Teen Murti Lane, New Delhi.Permanent Address: 1-1687,Chittranjan Park, New Delhi-19.

[F. No. M-22011/5/2017-Press]K.Sanjay Murthy, Jt. Secy

46

Order dated 20.3.2018

The issue concerns nominations under Section 5 (3) (a) (b) and (c) of the Press Council Act, 1978 (hereinafter referred as the Act). At the outset I may observe that nomination is governed by the statutory provisions and has to be done following the procedure provided in the Press Council (Procedure for Nomination of Members) Rules, 1978 (hereinafter referred as the Rules).

Working Journalists who are Editors (Section 5 (3) (a))

It is relevant here to state that three associations; namely Editors Guild of India, Hindi Samachar Patra Sammellan and All India Newspapers Editors Conference have been notified under this category. The total number of vacancies which need to be filled up under this category are six. The Editors Guild of India had submitted a panel consisting of four persons only under a belief that it has quota of two in the category of Editors. I am afraid, neither the Act nor the Rules provide for any quota to any association. The Editors Guild of India earlier had not filed the panel "comprising twice the number of members to be nominated from such associations of persons of the categories." and the same was rejected. This time also it has committed the same mistake and for the reasons stated in my order dated 15.2.2018, the panel submitted by Editors Guild of India stands rejected.

Hindi Samachar Patra Sammellan and All India Newspapers Editors Conference have submitted panels of names comprising twice the number i.e. twelve in this category. The names are common in the two panels with different preferences;there is no material to show that persons named therein are ineligible on any count. Thus, both the panels contain twelve names having different preferences.

Procedure for nomination of members has been prescribed under Rule 4 of the Rules; same reads as follows:

Rule 4� Procedure for nominations of members-

"From out of the panels of names recommended by the associations or, as the case may be, the associations and news agencies, under rule 3 the nomination of the members referred to in clause (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (3) of section 5, shall, subject to the provisions of that sub-section, be made in accordance with the following procedure, namely:

47

1) such person or persons as have been recommended by all the

respective associations or, as the case may be, news agencies shall first be nominated under clause (a), clause (b) or clause (c) of that sub-section:

Provided that if the number of persons so recommended exceeds the requisite number of members to be nominated in each of the categories, the requisite number shall be nominated by draw of lots from the persons so recommended;

2)� Where, after following the procedure specified in clause (1), the requisite number of members to be nominated under clause (a), clause (b) or clause (c) of sub-section (3) of section 5 could not be nominated, such person or persons as have been recommended by more than one association or news agency, but not by all the association or news agencies, shall be nominated in respect of the remaining membership in the order of the number of association or news agencies recommending them:

Provided that if the number of persons so recommended exceeds the requisite number of members to be nominated in each of the categories, the requisite number shall be nominated by draw of lots from the persons so recommended:

3)� Where after following the procedure specified in clauses (1) and (2), requisite number of members to be nominated under clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 5 could not be nominated, the remaining members shall be nominated in the following manner, namely:

a) the order in which the association of persons of the respective categories should be arranged for considering their recommendations shall be first decided by draw of lots; and

b) the required number of members shall then be nominated from persons who have been recommended by such associations arranged in the order decided under sub-clause (a) and according to the preference indicated by such associations, but not exceeding one from each such association; and if the required number could not still be nominated, the nomination shall be from persons who have been given the next preference

48

by such associations arranged in the said order and so on until the required number of members are nominated:

4) Where after following the procedure specified in clause (1) and (2), the member to be nominated under clause ( c) of sub-section (3) of section 5 could not be nominated, lots shall first be drawn to choose the association of news agencies, or, as the case may be, the news agency, whose recommendation should be considered for the nomination of the member, and the person who has been given the first preference by the said association or news agency, as the case may shall then be nominated as the member."

From a plain reading of sub rule 1 of rule 4 of the Rules it is evident that such persons as have been recommended by all the associations shall first be nominated. However, in case such persons as have been recommended by all the respective associations exceeds the requisite number of members to be nominated in the category, the required number shall be nominated by the draw of lots from the persons so recommended. As all the notified associations have not recommended these twelve persons, sub rule (1) of rule 4 of the Rules is not attracted.

It was suggested by Shri U C Sharma, President, Hindi Samachar Parta Sammellan that Editors be nominated according to the preference given by associations while submitting the panels of names. I am afraid the suggestion is not sanctioned by law. It is to be borne in the mind that "the preference becomes relevant only where after following the procedure specified in sub rules (1) & (2) of rule 4 the required number of members are not nominated. This would be evident from a plain reading of sub rule (3) of rule 4 of the Rules.

As stated earlier six persons need to be nominated under Working Journalists who are Editors of which not less than three need to be from Indian Languages. Number of persons recommended in the category of Editors by two associations has exceeded the requisite number of members to be nominated in the category of Working Journalists who are Editors; hence, procedure for nomination of members as provided under Rule 4 (2) shall come into play. It, inter alia, provides that, if a person is recommended by more than one association but not all associations and persons so recommended exceed the required number of members to be nominated, the required number shall be nominated by draw of lots.

Accordingly, the slips of twelve common names were prepared, put in the box and picked up one by one from the box in the presence of the

49

representatives of associations and other persons present. The names of six persons picked up in draw are mentioned below:

1. Shri Chandramani Raghuvanshi

2. Shri�Uttam Chandra Sharma

3. Shri�Pradeep Kumar Jain

4. Shri�Om Prakash Khemkarni

5. Shri�Sayed Razza Husain Rizvi

6. Dr. Baldev Raj Gupta

Accordingly, they qualify to be nominated under this category.

Working Journalists other than Editors (Section 5 (3) (a))

The records being not complete, I have deferred considering the nominations in the category of Working Journalists other than Editors. The nomination in this category will come up for consideration on 26.3.2018 at 11:30 a.m. Notice be issued to all concerned.

Persons who own or carry on the business of management of newspapers (Section 5 (3) (b))

Big Newspapers

There is only one association i.e. the Indian Newspapers Society which has been notified under category of persons who own or carry on the business of management of big newspapers. Two persons need to be nominated in this category. This association has given twice the number of members i.e. four to be nominated in this category. As the condition precedent for nomination under sub rule 1 & 2 of rule 4 of the Rules is not satisfied, the nomination under this category has to be made following sub rule 3 of rule 4 of the Rules taking into account the preference.

Shri Vijay Kumar Chopra and Shri Rakesh Sharma have been given preference number 1 & 2 respectively and accordingly they qualify to be nominated under this category.

Medium Newspapers

In the category of persons, who own or carry on the business of management of medium newspapers, two associations have been notified i.e. Indian Newspapers Society and All India Small and Medium Newspapers

50

Federation. two persons need to be nominated under this category. These associations have given common names twice the number i.e. four to be nominated in this category. Panels contain the name of Shri Hormusji N. Cama. By order dated 15.2.2018, I found him to be ineligible under this category. This time to substantiate the claim a resolution dated 1.3.2018 has been filed inter alia stating that "Shri Hormusji N. Cama whole time Director and Shareholder is authorized to manage day to day affairs of the company, including its publications 'Mumbai Samachar Daily, Mumbai Samachar Weekly, Mumbai SamacharPanchang and the Mumbai SamacharDipotsavi Ank."

While extending the time to file panel by order dated 28.2.2018, it was made clear that eligibility shall remain the same as provided under notice dated 24.11.2017. It may be stated here that last date for submission of nomination was 5.1.2018. Therefore this document of the later date needs to be ignored.

To put the records straight the representative of Indian Newspapers Society (INS) attempted to project that the resolution of the Board of Director of Bombay Samachar Pvt. Ltd. has superseded the earlier resolution of the Company. The resolution perse does not show any such thing. There is nothing on record to show that the company Bombay Samachar Pvt. ltd., at any point of time earlier than l.3.2018 authorized Shri Hormusji N. Cama, to manage the day to day affairs of Mumbai Samachar Daily, Mumbai Samachar Weekly, Mumbai Samachar Panchang and the Mumbai Samachar Dipotsavi Ank. For the reasons stated in my order dated 15.2.2018 Shri Hormusji N. Cama is found ineligible and hence his nomination stands rejected.

Thus the name of three persons namely; Shri Ashok Kumar Navratan, Shri L C Bhartiya, and Shri Sanjay Kumar Sharma are left for consideration, As all these persons have been recommended by all the respective associations and the number of persons recommended exceeds the requisite number of members to be nominated in this category, the proviso of rule 4 (1) springs into action and nomination needs to be made by draw of lots. Accordingly, slips were prepared for the three eligible names i.e. Shri Ashok Kumar Navratan, Shri L C Bhartiya, and Shri Sanjay Kumar Sharma and by draw of lots in public view in presence of repsentatives of associations and other persons, the following names were drawn:

1. Shri Sanjay Kumar Sharma

2. Shri Ashok Kumar Navrantan

Accordingly, they qualify to be nominated in this category

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Small Newspapers

In this category three associations i.e. Indian Newspapers Society, Association of Small & Medium Newspapers of India and All India Small and Medium Newspapers Federation have been notified. Two persons need to be nominated in this category. The associations have filed twice the number i.e. four to be nominated in this category. The name of Shri Kundan Raman Lal Vyas, Shri Keshav Dutt Chandola, and Shri Shayam Singh Panwar find place in all the three panels. As the number of persons recommended by all the associations had exceeded the requisite number of members to be nominated under this category, nomination has to take place by draw of lots. Accordingly, the slips of names of Shri Kundan Raman Lal Vyas, Shri Keshav Dutt Chandola, and Shri Shayam Singh Panwar were prepared and in draw of lots in public view in presence of representatives of associations and other persons the following names were drawn:

1. Shri Shayam Singh Panwar

2. Shri Keshav Dutt Chandola

Accordingly they qualify to be nominated in this category.

Person who manages news agency (Section 5(3) (c))

In this category the only news agency notified is United News of India one person needs to be nominated in this category it has given the panel comprising twice the number i.e. two, to be nominated from this category in order of preference. As there is only one news agency which is notified, the procedure provided under sub rule (1) & (2) of the rule 4 of Rules can't be resorted to and has to be done following sub rule (3) of rule 4 for nomination. Taking into account the preference of nominees, Shri Ashok Upadhyay qualifies to be nominated in this category.

All concerned may be informed accordingly and order be put on the website of the Council and be provided to all the associations and all concerned.

(Chandramauli Kumar Prasad) Chairman 20.3.2018

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Order dated 26.3.2018

By order dated 20.3.2018 consideration of nomination from among Working Journalists other than Editors was deferred for today. The representatives of various associations and individuals (List enclosed) were present and have made their submissions.

It is relevant here to state that in the category of Working Journalists other than Editors, four associations have been notified i.e. Press Association, Working News Cameramen's Associations, Indian Journalists Union and National Union of Journalists.

In response to the notice dated 24.11.2017, they have filed panels of names before last date fixed i.e. 5.1.2018. Thereafter, I had extended the date for submission of panels of names by the associations by 15.03.2018 by order dated 28.2.2018. In light of this order, all these associations; namely, Press Association, Working News Cameramen's Associations, Indian Journalists Union and National Union of Journalists have filed fresh panels and withdrawn the earlier panels.

It may be mentioned here that separately Shri Manoj Verma, Secretary General, National Union of Journalists has given three names purportedly on behalf of National Union of Journalists. These names don't find place in the earlier panel or the later panel. Further, other mandatory requirements have not been fulfilled. On these grounds panel filed under the signature of Shri ManojVerma is not valid and is rejected. I hasten to add that I am not deciding the status of Shri Manoj Verma as claimed by him.

Further I have been informed that Shri Ras Bihari has been removed as President of National Union of Journalists and different persons have been elected as its President and other office bearers. Shri Ras Bihari, however, states that he is the rightful person to make the nominations. Today, two different groups have appeared and claimed to be rightful persons to represent the National Union of Journalists. Be that as it may, there is serious dispute about office bearers of National Union of Journalists. The Chairman Press Council of India does not have the power to decide interse dispute of office bearers of the associations. One thing however is clear that there is serious dispute as to the ;

person holding the office legally. In the face of it, I ignore the panel submitted by the National Union of Journalists. Thus, there is no valid panel from National Union of Journalists.

53

It may be mentioned herein that the names of Shri Anand Rana and Shri Ras Bihari appear in the panels submitted by other three notified associations i.e. Press Association, Working News Cameramen's Associations and Indian Journalists Union. It is further relevant here to state that the nomination of Shri Ras Bihari was rejected by order dated 15.2.2018 on the ground that he is not a working journalist. In the fresh panel it is stated that he is working in the newspaper "Rashtriya Khabar Humari Nazar" and in support of the claim, the columns published in his name in the newspaper and letter of appointment have been placed on record. It has been pointed out that Shri Ras Bihari on the earlier occasion admitted during the course of meeting that he is not employed any where and working as a freelancer. However, later on he has changed his stand and claims to be working with the newspaper “Rashtriya Khabar Humari Nazar”. The letter of appointment dated 15.9.2017 states that he shall be paid a sum of Rs 25000/- per month. In order to verify his claim, I asked him to file the bank statement. In answer thereto he stated that he was earlier paid the salary in cash but from last two months he is being paid salary through the bank. He has not been able to produce the bank account to substantiate his claim. In that view of the matter I have no reason to take a different view than what has been taken in my earlier order dated15.2.2018. Accordingly, he is found to be ineligible and does not deserve to be considered for nomination under the category of Working Journalists other than Editors.

So far as Shri Anand Rana is concerned he wrote to the Council today morning seeking withdrawal of his nomination. Few minutes thereafter, he wrote another mail withdrawing his earlier mail. Again during the course of meeting he has stated that he is not willing to be nominated. In the face of the vacillating stand of Shri Anand Rana, I do not deem it expedient to consider his case for nomination.

All together there are twelve names which are common in the three valid panels submitted by Press Association, Working News Cameramen's Associations and Indian Journalists Union. They are, Shri Jai Shankar Gupta, Shri Amar Devullapali, Shri Pravat Kumar Dash, Shri Anand Rana, Shri C K Nayak, Shri Kamal Nain Narang, Shri S N Sinha, Shri Ras Bihari, Ms. Sabina Inderjit, Shri Balwindar Singh Jammu, Mr. M A Majid and Shri Sarat Chandra Behra.

For the reasons stated in preceding paragraphs of this order, the names of Shri Ras Bihari and Shri Anand Rana are excluded from consideration. Thus, ten names are left out who have been nominated by three associations.

54

In the scheme of things when common names are more than the number of persons to be nominated in the category the preference indicated has no role to play. Rule 4 of Press Council (Procedure for nomination of member) Rules, 1978 mandates nominations in such circumstances by draw of lots. It is relevant here to state that under the category of Working Journalists other than Editors, not less than four need to be from Indian Languages. Accordingly, slips of all those claiming nominations under Indian Language were prepared and by draw of lots in public view in presence of representatives of associations and other persons present, the following names were drawn from the category of Working Journalists other than Editors from the Indian Languages:

1. Shri Amar Devullapali

2. Shri Balwindar Singh Jammu

3. Shri Sarat Chandra Behra

4. Shri Pravat Kumar Dash

The slip of rest of the nominees i.e. Shri Jai Shankar Gupta and Mr. M A Majid were mixed up with the nominees from other than Indian Languages i.e. Shri C K Nayak, Shri Kamal Nain Narang, Shri S N Sinha,and Ms. Sabina Inderjit and by draw of lots in public view in presence of representatives of associations and other persons present, the following names were drawn:

1. Mr. M A Majid

2. Shri Kamal Nain Narang

3. Shri C K Nayak

Accordingly, they qualify to be nominated under this category.

With this the process for nomination of Member under the Press Council Act, 1978 and Press Council (Procedure for nomination of Member) Rules, 1978 conclude and names of twenty persons nominated under Section 5 (3) (a) (b) & (c) of the Press Council Act, 1978, be communicated to the Government for action under Section 5 (5) of the Press Council Act, 1978.

All concerned may be informed accordingly and order be put on the website of the Council and be provided to all the associations and all concerned.

(Chandramauli Kumar Prasad)Chairman26.3.2018

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List of Members to be notified under Section 5 (3) (a), (b) & (c) of the Press Council Act 1978

Working Journalists who are Editors (Section 5 (3)(a))

1. Shri Chandramani Raghuvanshi

2. Shri Uttam Chandra Sharma

3. Shri Pradeep Kumar Jain

4. Shri Om Prakash Khemkarni

5. Shri Sayed Razza Husain Rizvi

6. Dr. Baldev Raj Gupta

Working Journalist other than Editors (Section 5 (3) (a))

7. Shri Amar Devullapali

8. Shri Balwindar Singh Jammu

9. Shri Sarat Chandra Behra.

10. Shri Pravat Kumar Dash

11. Mr. M A Majid

12. Shri Kamal Nain Narang

13. Shri C K Nayak

Persons who own or carry on the business of management of newspapers (Section 5 (3) (b))

Big Newspapers

14. Shri Vijay Kumar Chopra

15. Shri Rakesh Sharma

Medium Newspapers

16. Shri Sanjay Kumar Sharma

17. Shri Ashok Kumar Navrantan

Small Newspapers

18. Shri Shayam Singh Panwar

19. Shri Keshav Dutt Chandola

Person who manages news agency (Section 5(3)(c) )

20. Shri Ashok Upadhyay

ANNEXURE

56

Attendance for the Meeting dated 26.3.2018

S.No Name Associations

1 Ras Bihari NUJ(I)

2 Seema Kiran NUJ(I)

3 Rakesh Thapliyal NUJ(I)

4 Ranvir Singh DJA

5 Anand Rana NUJ(I)

6 Sujan Singh DJA

7 Kasuri Amarnath IJU

8 Mangal Singh NUJ(I)

9 Parmod Kumar DJA /NUJ(I)

10 C K Nayak PA

11 Jaishankar Gupta PA

12 Sabina Inderjeet IJU

13 Usha Panna DJA

14 Sondeep Shankar WNCA

15 R.P. Yadav IFWJ

16 Vipin Gupta IFWJ

17 Rajeev Ranjan Naag PA

18 Joginder Singh Chawla WNCA

19 M.K.Mahadev Rao WNCA

20 Rakesh Arya NUJ(I)

21 Kamal Nain Narag WNCA

22 Gyandra Singh Mera Watan

ANNEXURE

57

PR/3/18-19-PCI (Edi.) Dated: 5.04.2018

Press Release

RECONSTITUTION OF XIII TERM OF PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA, 2018

Reconstitution process of the Press Council of India for XIII Term was set in motion on 09.09.2016 with issuance of Advertisement Notification dated 30.09.2016, inviting claims based on the criteria decided by the Council. The last date for filing of claims was extended from 30.11.2016 to 31.01.2017. For the purpose of scrutiny of claims, the then Press Council constituted a Scrutiny Committee on 19.01.2017. The Scrutiny Committee held five meetings on 10.04.2017, 24.05.2017, 11.07.2017, 22.08.2017 and 04.09.2017 and after affording personal hearing to the organisations, submitted its report to the Council on 21.09.2017.

The Council approved the report on 21.9.2017 by majority with the dissent of the Chairman and a member. The dissent note of the Chairman was taken on record on 9/10/17. Thereafter, eleven associations were notified by Gazette Notification dated 26.10.2017. The Hon'ble Chairman, Press Council of India through secretariat letter dated 24.11.2017, invited the panels of names twice the number of members to be nominated in each category as per vacancies i.e. Working Journalists who are Editors, Working Journalists other than Editors, Owners & Managers of Big, Medium & Small Newspapers and Managers of News Agency having vacancies six, seven, six and one respectively. Last date of receiving nomination was 5.1.2018.

Soochna Bhawan, 8 CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003Ph. : 24366745-46-47-49, Ext. 331 : Fax : 24368723/726

E-mail : pcibppeditorial@gmail.com Website ; www.presscouncil.nic.in

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All the notified associations filed their nominations before the last date and panels of names were analysed and it was found that in the category of Working Journalists who are Editors (Hindi Samachar Patra Sammellan, Editors Guild of India and All India Newspaper Editor's Conference) Owners & Managers of Big, Medium & Small newspapers (Indian Newspaper Society, All Indian Small & Medium Newspapers Federation and Association of Small & Medium Newspapers of India) have not filed panels of names twice the number of members to be nominated that is twelve against six vacancies, which is mandatory requirement of the Section 5 (3) 4 of the Press Council Act, 1978. The same panels therefore were rejected on not fulfilling the mandatory requirement of the said Act. On rejecting panels of the two categories i.e. Working Journalists who are Editors and Owners & Managers of Big, Medium & Small newspapers, the nominations were only confined to the category of Working Journalists other than Editors and from persons who manage news agency which would defeat the purpose for which the Council is constituted. Therefore, vide Hon'ble Chairman order and Secretariat letter dated 28.2.2018, the date for filing the panels of names was extended to 15.3.2018, if desired by the associations where all terms and conditions for eligibility shall remain same as of letter dated 24.11.2017

Referring to the same, ten associations filed the fresh panels. In the category of Working Journalists who are Editors vacancy is of six members. Editor's Guild of India submitted only four names in its panel under the belief that it has quota of two in but neither the Press Council Act, 1978 nor Press Council (Procedure for Nomination of Members) Rules, 1978 provide for any such quota to any association, Therefore, Hon'ble Chairman order dated 20.3.2018, rejected the panel submitted by the Editors Guild of India on not fulfilling the mandatory requirement of the Section 5 (4) of the Press Council Act, 1978 which requires that the panels of names filed should comprise twice the number of members to be nominated against six vacancies in the Editors category.

As regards, the allegation of unreasonable and biased decision of the Chairman while selecting the names of the persons by the Indian Newspapers Society in the category of Owners & Managers of Big, Medium & Small newspapers, it is clarified that selection, as envisaged in law, was done by draw of lots in presence of the representatives of the Associations, including the Indian Newspaper Society. The whole process has been recorded in audio and video format

and open for scrutiny.

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PR/5/2018-PCI-Edi Dated: 9.4.2018

Press Release

NOMINATION NAMES WERE DRAWN FROM THE PANELS SUBMITTED BY ALL NOTIFIED ASSOCIATIONS

Chairman had not selected the associations: allegations utterly falseAll names nominated are in the panels given by the associations, Chairman

had not inducted any other name- allegations baseless

As notified in Gazette of India dated 26.10.2017 eleven associations were invited for submitting the panels of names. The Hon'ble Chairman vide Secretariat's letter dated 24.11.2017 had invited the “panels of names comprising twice the number of members to be nominated” as provided in Section 5 (4) of the Press Council Act, 1978 in the categories of Working Journalist who are Editors, Working Journalist other than Editors, Persons who owns or carries on the business of the management of the Big, Small & Medium newspaper. The Chairman has no role in selection of the associations. It was done by the Council by majority with the dissent of the Chairman. Therefore, the allegation that Chairman “adopted a process to keep out certain media associations is utterly false. It be clarified that 'precedence' not sanctioned by law or contrary to law does not deserve to be accepted.

In the category of Working Journalist who are Editors, three associations were notified i.e. Hindi Samachar Patra Samellan, All India National Editor's Conference and Editors Guild of India and twice the names to be nominated were called from them with the last date ending on 5.1.2018 and extended till

st15.3.2018. All these three associations submitted the 1 panels by 5.1.2018 and their panels were rejected on the ground for not fulfilling the mandatory requirement of section 5 (4) of the Act i.e. the number of members to be nominated. Again in the fresh panel Editors Guild of India submitted only four

Soochna Bhawan, 8 CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003Ph. : 24366745-46-47-49, Ext. 331 : Fax : 24368723/726

E-mail : pcibppeditorial@gmail.com Website ; www.presscouncil.nic.in

60

names under the belief that it has quota of 2. It be clarified that the quota is for Editors and not individual associations and therefore it was rejected for the same reason.

Therefore, in the category of Working Journalist who are Editors panels of only two associations i.e. Hindi Samachar Patra Samellan and All India National Editor's Conference were accepted having thirteen common names in both the panels. Hence, as per Rule 4 (2) of Press Council (Procedure for Nominations of Members) Rules, 1978, lots from the thirteen common names was drawn in presence of the representatives of associations and other persons present. The names of six persons were picked up against 6 vacancies in the said category.

Similarly, in the category of Working Journalist other than Editors four associations were notified i.e. Press Association, Working News Cameraman's Associations, Indian Journalists Union and National Union of Journalists and twice names of the member to be nominated were called with the last date ending on 5.1.2018 and extended till 15.3.2018. All these associations submitted fresh panels withdrawing their earlier panels. Out of four associations National Union of Journalists' panels having dispute about office-bearer was rejected with two other nominees whose either did not prove his eligibility or stand was not clear in the process of nominations. Therefore, in the category of Working Journalist other than Editors panels of only three associations i.e. Press Association, Working News Cameraman's Associations and Indian Journalists Union were accepted having ten common nominees in all the panels. Hence, as per Rule 4 (2) of Press Council (Procedure for Nominations of Members) Rules, 1978, lots from among ten common names was drawn in the presence of the representatives of associations and other persons present. The names of seven persons were picked up against 7 vacancies in the said category by draw of lots.

All these nominees find place in the panels given by the associations. If there is any doubt “over the autonomy and neutrality” of the Council, the blame, if at all lies with the associations who have given the names of such persons. It is emphatically stated that the Chairman has not inducted any names of his own and all the names nominated by him have been given by the associations.

Nomination under the category of the Owners and Managers under “medium” category being sub-judice before the Delhi High Court, it shall be defended there. The whole process has been recorded in audio and video format

and open for scrutiny.

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Part II

62

63

Report on the visit of the Hon'ble Chairman Press Council of India to Bangladesh on an Invitation of the

Bangladesh Press Councilth th(17 to 20 February 2018)

The Bangladesh Press Council, a statutory authority and an internal self- regulatory mechanism of Press in Bangladesh, invited Hon'ble Chairman, Press Council of India, to represent the Council in the 'Bangladesh Press Council Day' celebration. It was followed by deliberations on the formation of South Asian

* th thAlliance of Press Councils (SAAPC) at Dhaka, Bangladesh from 18 to 20 February 2018

The Chairman, Press Council of India participated in Bangladesh Press Council Day celebrations followed by distribution of awards to journalists, who excelled in the field of journalism in Bangladesh. The ceremony was observed on 18th February, 2018 and was graced by the Hon'ble President of Bangladesh as the Chief Guest, the Hon'ble Minister of Information of Govt, of Bangladesh and State Minister of Information, Government of Bangladesh and members of Bangladesh Press Council and delegates from Press Council Nepal, Sri Lanka Press Council, representatives from Myanmar Press Council and President of World Associations of Press Councils (WAPC).

Representatives from respective Press Councils of South Asian thcountries including Myanmar, met on 19 February, 2018, in Dhaka to deliberate

on the issue of formation of South Asian Alliance of Press Councils. The meeting was attended by the Chairman, Bangladesh Press Council and its Members, Chairman of Press Council Nepal, Chairman Sri Lanka Press Council and representatives from Myanmar Press Council, and other delegates and President of WAPC. In the meeting, the Chairman, Press Council of India, besides emphasizing on the importance of physical safety of journalists in the sub-continent, deliberated on the significance of extending financial security to the Journalists in the South Asian region. The Chairman, highlighted until

*. A proposed structure comprised of South Asian countries inclusive of Myanmar. The Alliance is to have its Headquarter in Delhi, India with the Indian Press Council Secretariat the permanent Secretariat of the Alliance and its Secretary, the permanent Secretary General of the Alliance. The Chairman Press Council of India is appointed as the interim President of the Alliance until the Alliance is formalised in keeping with the provisions of the proposed Constitution of the Alliance. It is also pertinent to mention that the proposal has the endorsement of the Govt. of India.

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journalists' are secured financially, the freedom of Press will continue to be under stress as only a financially secured journalist can function objectively, effectively and independently. He further added, financial independence of journalist is a condition precedent for the sustenance of free press. Steps necessary for malising the establishment of SAAPC, was discussed by the participating countries. However, the Governmental approval of few South Asian Countries for their respective SAAPC membership, is under process.

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Freedom of Press & Security of Journalist in South Asia:- Regional Perspective

*Justice C.K. Prasad, Chairman, Press Council of India

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Brother Justice Md. Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, Chairman, Bangladesh Press Counciland itsesteemed members. I congratulate Bangladesh Press Council on completion of its forty - four years of establishment and for its indomitable contribution towards preserving the freedom of the press with utmost responsibility in the region. Personally, I am grateful to the Bangladesh Press Council for its unconditional support for formation of the proposed structure of South Asian Press Councils.

I may start with an admission that I am no media expert. Before becoming the Chairman of the Press Council of India, the only thing I fought and spoke for was the freedom of press and safety of journalists, which are issues that affect every citizen of the country. I believe that an act of aggression against a journalist is an attack on the basic fundamental right of the freedom of speech and expression. Mahatma Gandhi, once said “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality”, most of us present in this room must be aware that the Indian Press played a pivotal role in shaping and promoting the nationalist movement of India. The Indian press has always remained independent, spirited and in reflecting the unity and diversity of the country.

Freedom of speech is a basic human right. It is recognized by several international conventions and statutes like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms. Also, basic laws of all South Asian countries not only recognize every individual's freedom of speech and express ion but a lso f reedom of the media . In India , our Constitutionmakerscharacterized Freedom of Speech and Expression as the very life of civil liberties and the Supreme Court of India expounded it as the Ark of the Covenant of Democracy.

A free media is not an option in democracy, it is sine qua non. What oxygen is for human beings, freedom is for the survival of the media. It is the

* Speech delivered at the South Asian Aliance of Press Councils meet at Dhaka, Bangladesh on 19.02.2018

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voice of the people and a special purpose vehicle to supply information that help people formulate a collective opinion.

However, with time the dynamics has undergone huge transformations along with the maladies with which media suffers. These days working as a media professional has become very challenging. Extreme pressure, time constraints, the competitive natureof work, culture of paid news and advertorials adopted by media houses have caused huge damage to the integrity of newspapers. Paid news, fake news and advertorials have spread its tentacles all over the country and I am sure this must be the case in most of the regions of South Asia. Pen is in pain, I do not know at whose hands. Is it self-inflicted or has come from outside, that needs a serious analysation. In my opinion the most serious issue faced by any country is the loss of credibility of the media, if we can restore media credibility; all other issues afflicting media shall perish.

The profession of Journalism does not have the power of politics, it lacks the influence of bureaucracy and salaries do not match with the corporate sector. The desire to become the agent of change earlier drove people to journalism and their contribution can be written in golden letters. In India, media used to be in mission mode during the freedom struggle that transformed it intoa profession in the post-independence period and has turned into a commercial enterprise in the post-liberalization era. Today, the press with it's technological privileges has assumed the foremost importance in society, governance and opinion formation. It has become more powerful than ever and got the freedom to make or mar an individual's or a country's reputation. Unfortunately, these days newspapers are not being run by the journalists, they have been taken over by Media Houses, and like any other business organisation, it has made news a marketable commodity. Instead of Editors controlling the newspapers, it is being controlled by business managers who are unfortunately less concerned about the contents of newspapers.

As the media houses are flourishing by leaps and bounds, the credibility of journalists is going to hit rock bottom. Majority of the journalists wish to live uptothe professional ethics of journalism, they want to be the mirror of the society and the voice of the voiceless but their passion has become a casualty in the corporate web and worst, they are often being used as a tool by the politicians to propagate their selfish political agenda. This has resulted in the strangulation of the essence of free press and in this entire gamut the most disheartening and worrisome threat to the freedom of media has become threat to the life and liberty of journalists and media workers. Hence, expecting the high ethical values from

67

them in a time when their lives are being threatened, jobs are being lost and livelihoods are being destroyed is nothing but asking for the moon.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here, I would like to share one of my observations, that you also must be aware of, few international organisations are involved in ranking nations according to the freedom of press permitted in respective nations and unfortunately, India is not placed in a very good position in that index, and to add in the last year i.e., in 2017, India has slipped three places

rd thfrom 133 to 136 in World Press Freedom Index published globally by the Reporters Without Borders. I am sorry to mention that I have some doubts on the credibility of the reports and the basis on which the ranking is being done as I believe India has the most vibrant press. Hence to inquire, I have tried communicating with the South Asian office of the organisation several times to learn about their methods of ranking and had expressed my willingness to share how Press Council of India is working to preserve the freedom of press, however, till date we have not received any response from the organisation. Under such circumstances to read and understand the situation of the press freedom in ones nation through the published reports of an outside organisation and believe in them, when you are aware that the published facts are presenting only one side of the story in an exaggerated way, it would not be wrong for me to say that it demeans the actual picture of the nation.

The primary duty of a journalist is to act as an interpreter of the world.A journalist, observes the events, transmits facts about the events and acts as an interpreter; he is expected to comment on matters of public interest in fair, accurate, unbiased, sober and responsible manner. In the process, journalists come in conflict with the wrong-doers, who tend to harm them and hinder freedom of the press. With this view in mind, to preserve the nobleness of free and responsible press, the Press Council of India was set up by an Act of Parliament in the year 1966 with the task to promote the freedom of the press and independence of newspapers, news agencies and journalists by raising the standards of journalism and keeping under review any development which may interfere with the free flow of information. The Press Council of India since its inception has been engaged in living upto its objective of creating an atmosphere in the country where free press breathes.

To conclude I would say it is never an easy task to uphold the freedom of the press and maintain a standard of good journalism, especially in a huge and diversely populated country like India. However the mechanism that the Press Council of India has adopted in dealing with the complaints or any incidents of

68

violence on media persons have been largely successful and have yielded positive results. With the help of the Journalistic community which is part of the Council, the Council has been able to discharge its duties and responsibilities with utmost dedication and competence. Today journalism is digital and mobile. The traditional ink and paper journalism is on the wane and way out. Social media is fast replacing the traditional media and its reach is beyond the frontiers of the country, perhaps more than the newspapers. But nobody is responsible for its contents. It is therefore suggested that some regulatory regime is to be devised to oversee the new media also, i.e., the digital media. The Council is working with the Govt. of India on certain critical issues and one of them is to bring the electronic media and digital media within the purview of the Council and make the Press Council as Media Council of India. The Press council of India conducts several conferences and seminars on the issues related to media and how media can be used in a positive way by citizens so as to contribute towards nation building and for raising social awareness on safety of journalists. With these words, I would like to thank you all for your patience and special thanks to Bangladesh Press Council for organising this meet.

Thank you

69

Views of Mrs. Vibha Bhargava,Secretary, Press Council of India dated 28.3.2018

on her retirement.

Today, as I lay down the office of Secretary to the Press Council and step into the realm of retired life after 38 years of hectic work-life balance. I would like to record my appreciation of all who have walked alongside me in this journey. Through the thick and thin of it, I have attempted to give my best to every assignment and I am grateful to all my seniors, members and colleagues whose invaluable guidance and cooperation smoothened this path.

The last three years with Hon’ble Chairman have been a totally new learning experience that have only strengthened my belief in being answerable only to own inner conscience. My deepest gratitude to him to his support and guidance.

To my colleagues in the Council, I have only one word of advice. “Ask not what the office has given you but what you have given to it.” Success is natural corollary. It is said that work is worship. My father-in-law used to say work with honesty and sincerity is worship. It stands by you in this world as also the next. We have not been able to make much progress in getting medical and other benefits for the employees but I hope the baton shall be carried forward.

As I carry the wishes of all in this journey into the new phase of my life, my best wishes remain with all in taking the Council forward.

Vibha Bhargava

70

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTINGNOTIFICATION

thNew Delhi, the 18 January, 2018

� G.S.R.43(E),-In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Press Council Act, 1978 (37 of 1978), the Central Government after Consulting the Press Council of India, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Press Council Rules, 1979, namely :-

1. (1)� These rules may be called the Press Council (Amendment) Rules, 2018.

(2)� They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. In the Press Council Rules, 1979, in rule 4, in sub-rule (1), for clause (iv), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(iv)�In addition to the reimbursement of rent and daily allowances referred to in clauses (i), (ii) and (iii), every non-official member shall be entitled to a sitting fee of rupees six thousand per day, subject to ceiling of rupees sixty thousand per month.

� Provided that no such non-official member employed in any institution or organisation funded by the Government and drawing salary therefore shall be entitled to sitting fee.”

[F. No. M-22011/6/2017-Press]K.Sanjay Murthy, Jt. Secy

Note :� The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Part II, Section 3, sub-thsection (i) vide number G.S.R. 286, dated the 8 February, 1979 and subsequently amended vide

th thnumbers G.S.R. 940, dated the 20 November, 1982, G.S.R. 622(E), dated the 16 May, 1988, th thG.S.R. 37(E), dated the 27 February, 1997 and G.S.R. 377(E), dated the 30 March, 2016.

ALOK Digitally signed by ALOK KUMAR

Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.

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1. Brief purport of the matter the notification covers

2. Statutory of other requirement under which the paper is laid on the Table (and not the Statutory P r o v i s i o n u n d e r w h i c h i t h a s b e e n issued/made)

(i) In the case of Central Govt. notification name of the act and section which provides for laying should be clearly stated.

(ii) In the case of State government notification the laying provision in the State Act should be reproduced.

3. Whether published in the Gazette, if so.

(i) G . S . R . / S . O . / S . R . O . n u m b e r o f notification published in the Gazette.

(ii) Date part and Section of the Gazette.

4. Whether subject to modification by the House

5. Period specified in the principal Act by which it is required to be laid.

6. Whether notification is being laid within the stipulated time, if not, whether any delay statement has been enclosed.

7. Whether it has been previously laid on the Table of the House and if so, on what date?

8. Whether English and Hindi versions are being laid together. If not, the date on which the English version was laid.

9. Date on which proposed to be laid on the Table.

The Press Council (Amendment) Rules, 2018

Section 25(3) of the Press Council Act, 1978, stipulates for laying of every rules made under this Act.

----

----

G.S.R. 43(E)

th18 January, 2018Part – II Section 3 Sub – Section (I)

Yes.

In accordance with Section 25(3) of the Press Council Act, 1978, every rule mad under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session; for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session of in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive session aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

07.02.2018 (Rajya Sabha)

PERFORMA TO BE ATTACHED TO THE O.M. FORWARDING PAPERS TO BE LAID

ON THE TABLE OF RAJYA SABHA

72

Government and Press

Report social issues more, Satyarthi tells media

The media should not run behind "breaking news” stories but report more on issues of social importance. Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi said on Tuesday.

Ahead of summit of global leaders and Nobel laureates on children's rights in Jordan on 26-27 March, Satyarthi addressed a workshop on child issues organised by Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation for media persons at Constitution Club of India here.

Satyarthi emphasised that it was the responsibility of media to make society awareabout child trafficking and slavery.

He cited National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report which stated that tens of thousands of children go missing every year in India. To rescue them the government should adopt new technologies for facial recognition. That could save both time and money of the authorities, he felt.

The Nobel laureate suggested that to stop crime against children strong steps should be taken against criminals. “Every religion should boycott the person who commits any sort of crime against children," he exhorted.

Satyarthi opined India's first anti-trafficking law (Bill to be passed by Parliament) could be a major step forward as it proposed life sentence for traffickers and a rehabilitation fund for minor victims.

(The Statesman, New Delhi, March 21, 2018)

Committed to Press Freedom, clarifies Govt.

With the UIDAI under attack over lodging of an FIR against Tribune

newspaper and its reporter for reporting of an alleged Aadhaar data breach, the

government said it is committed to the freedom of the press and clarified that the

case was filed against "unknown” persons.

A day after the Delhi Police confirmed registering of an FIR on January

5, based on a complaint by Unique Identification Authority of lndia (UIDAI), the

Aadhaar-issuing agency IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sought to clear doubts

over the government's position on the issue.

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“The government is fully committed to freedom of press as well as to

maintaining security and sanctity of Aadhaar for India's development. FIR is

against unknown.“Prasad tweeted.

The complaint by UIDAI named four persons, including the ‘The

Tribune's’ reporter. Who had filed the story on alleged breach in Aadhaar data

base, but the minister said the FIR was against "unknown" persons.

“I've suggested UIDAI to request Tribune and its journalist to give all

assistance to police in investigating real offenders,” he added.

After Prasad's clarification, the UIDAI also said it is committed to the

freedom of the press and will approach the newspaper and its reporter for

cooperation in the investigation of alleged data breach.

“We're going to write to @thetribunechd and @rachnakhaira to give all

assistance to investigate to nab the real culprits. We also appreciate if Tribune

and its journalist have any constructive suggestion to offer" the UIDAI

(The Times of India, New Delhi, March 2, 2018)

Mehbooba seeks Rajnath's help for release of photojournalist

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday sought

the intervention of Home Minister Rajnath Singh for the release of

photojournalist Kamran Yousuf, who was arrested by the National investigation

Agency (NIA) on September 4, 2017, for allegedly colluding with stone- pelters.

In a tweet from her official account, mufti said: “Spoke to Home

Minister @rajnathsinghji to look into Kamran yousuf's case. I have requested

him to intervene so that the life of a young budding journalist does not get

ruined.”

In its charge sheet, the NIA said Kamran is not a 'real journalist' as he

allegedly did not cover any developmental activity of any government

Department/Agency. Any inauguration of Hospital, school building Road,

Bridge. Statement of political party in power or any other social /developmental

activity by state government or government of India.”

The Chief Minister's call for intervention from the union Home Minister

has come at a time when voices demanding Kamran's release are growing.

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Earlier, people Democratic Party (PDP) Youth President Waheed-ur-Rehman

Parra had asked Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to consider general amnesty for

Kamran, among others.

I, on behalf of Kamran and his mother, who live alone, and on behalf of

other citizens, request you to extend this gesture of love and acceptance towards

Kamran and grant him and other boys' general amnesty, parra said.

This will indeed be a very positive gesture and a confidence building

measure that most Kashmiris will acknowledge appreciate and remember,” he

said Parra had also urged Mufti to take up the matter of Kamran's release with

the center.

International human rights and journalism bodies also sought immediate

release of the photojournalist. The committee to protect journalists urged the

central government and NIA to immediately drop charges” against Kamran and

called for his release.

While Kamran's bail plea is in court, there has been no decision form the

court yet. There have been more than 18 hearing on the plea in the past six month.

On Friday when the court heard a bail plea for the last time, the NIA came up with

a new set of documents, urging the court to examine them.

(The Indian Express, New Delhi, March 12, 2018)

I & B panel wants assessment study on integrated media units

Members of a consultative committee of Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting (l&B) have suggested that an impact assessment study on the

integration of various media units that are used for publicising the government

schemes and programmes should be undertaken to enable these to work in an

integrated manner, the ministry said in an official release.

The committee also “appreciated” the ministry's decision to integrate

directorate of Field Publicity,Song and Drama Division and Directorate of

Advertising and Visual Publicity into the Bureau of Outreach Communication

(BOC), the release said.

The committee that met on Tuesday, and was chaired by minister Smriti

Irani, discussed the broad schematics of the integration of divisions.

(Hindustan Times, New Delhi, March 15, 2018)

75

Home secy asks media to omit terrorists' names

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Friday called for establishing a

code conduct for media organisations that report terrorism related news.

The senior bureaucrat said that news media should play a role in

devising a counter terrorism strategy and follow practices such as omitting

names and images of attackers. This, he suggested, would help fighting terrorism

on an ideological level.

"Governments and news media can play a role in devising a counter

terrorism strategy by establishing a code of conduct for reporting on terrorism

which includes omitting names and images of attackers. Such practices will

deny attackers the glory they seek." Gauba said during his address at the fourth

annual counter terrorism conference organised by New Delhi-based think tank,

India Foundation.

Gauba emphasised that terrorism today posed a threat to modern

civilisation and there was a need to fight the menaceatan ideological level.

“Radicalisation is the root pause of terrorism and it needs to he fought at

an ideological level by the society at large," he said. Time and resources are on

the side of forces of modernisation and progress, what is required is strong will

power and concerted global action to defeat the regressive forces," he added.

(Hindustan Times, New Delhi, March 17, 2018)

76

Attack on Media

Media Ban On Sohrabuddin Trial Lifted

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed and set-aside the order

passed by a special CBI court banning the media from covering the trial of the

2005 Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case.

The high court held that being a sensational case cannot be ground to ban

media from reporting it. The court also said that the matter of Judge Loya's death

is not connected with this matter, so alleged misreporting of that matter is also

not a ground to prevent media from covering the trial.

The CBI judge S.J. Sharma had prohibited journalists from publishing

the proceedings of the trial on an application moved by one of the accused, a

police inspector from Rajasthan, Abdul Rehman, which was supported by the

rest of the accused.

The defence Lawyers of the accused had claimed that the media report

would prejudice their case.

They had alleged that media has already misreported this case by

publishing reports claiming that Loya's death was unnatural.

(Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad, January 25, 2018)

Photojounalist's camera found, 2 cops suspended

New Delhi: The camera of the photojournalist that was taken away by

cops during the protest by JNU students was recovered on Friday. A case of

snatching has been registered on the complaint by the photojournalist.

Meanwhile, another FIR for rioting and preventing a public servant from

conducting his duty has been registered against 25 students who were seen

vandalising and attacking cops during the protest march.

Police scanned through the videos taken during the protest to identify the

students. They have been asked to join the probe next week.

Two policemen, a head constable from Vasant Kunj (north) police

station and a woman constable from Delhi Armed Police, have been placed

under suspension for unprofessional conduct, DCP (PRO) Madhur Verma said.

77

"We have contacted the journalist and will facilitate the return of the camera to

her,” he added.

Sources said that the camera was recovered from Vasant Kunj police

station where it was kept in the custody of the head constable. The woman

journalist had approached Sarojini Nagar police station to register a case of

snatching after which an investigation was started to locate the camera.

A few of the protesting students who were detained and taken for a

medico-legal test were found involved in vandalising public property. Police are

going to ask the organisers of the protest to appear for questioning for violating a

public order.

Senior police officers said that a vigilance inquiry into other cases of

violence against policemen has also been started. The journalists who had

registered a complaint have been called to record their statement before an

investigating officer.

(The Times of India, New Delhi, March 26, 2018)

Bihar journalists crushed to death by former Mukhia

Two journalists were crushed to death in Bihar last evening allegedly by

a former Mukhia, thus raising a big question mark on the safety of scribes. This is

the fourth incident of journalists killing in the past two years, amply indicating

how they have become the soft targets of miscreants.

Police have arrested the main accused while raids are on to nab the

others. The miscreants allegedly had a tiff with the journalists over some news

reports.

Reports said the victims were returning home on motorbike after

covering a rally on Ram Navami in central Bihar's Bhojpur district on Sunday

evening, when a speeding Scorpio hit them from behind and rammed into their

bike, killing them on the spot. After committing the crime, the miscreants fled the

scene but the vehicle was set afire by irate villagers. The victims have been

identified as Navin Nischal (35) and his associate Vijay Singh (25). While Navin

worked for Dainik Bhaskar, Vijay was working for a Hindi magazine. In a case

registered with the police, a former Mukhia Harsu Miyan, his son and others

78

have been named the main accused. A special Investigation Team (SIT) has been

formed to probe the incident. According to villagers, the accused person were

angry with the journalists over some reports. “On the fateful evening, the

accused persons had heated arguments with the journalists after which they

threatened them with dire consequences. Shortly after that, both the journalists

were crushed to death,” villagers told the police. According to villagers, the said

Scorpio belongs to Harsu Miyan. The main accused Harsu Miyan is being

interrogated, local Bhojpur district superintendent of police Avkash Kumar told

newsmen today.

The Opposition meanwhile, slammed the state government over

frequent killing of journalists in the state and asked the government to protect the

fourth pillar.

The Indian Federation of Working journalist (IFWJ) has strongly

condemned the incident and called for stern action against the accused.

(The Statesman, New Delhi, March 27, 2018)

Journalist who took on sand mafia run over

Sandeep Sharma, who worked for a local news channel, had told the

district administration that he feared he could be killed by the sand mafia, his

nephew Vikas Purohit said in a complaint to the police.

The 35-year-old journalist was talking on his phone by the side of after

Road in front of a police station when the truck, used to ferry sand, ran over him,

officials said.

Purohit, in his complaint to the City Kotwali police, said that Sharma

had been facing a threat to his life because of the recent sting operation he had

carried out on sand mafia.

“Sandeep had petitioned Madhya Pradesh DGP, IG, SP and the Human

Rights Commission stating that he feared for his life and had demanded

security," Purohit said.

In his report to top officials, Sharma had said, because of the sting

operation against sand mafia and the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), the

officer was transferred, Purohit claimed.

79

Sharma was to have recorded his statement against the SDPO and was

being threatened by unidentified people, Purohit said.

Bhind SP Prashant Khare said Sharma's application to the authorities

was being examined and the incident probed.

The driver of the truck fled the scene after the accident, police said.

(Deccan Herald, March 27, 2018)

80

Press and the People

Media fraternity calls for unity in wake of 'threat' to press freedom

Senior journalists and representatives of media associations today held a

meeting under the aegis of the Delhi Union of Journalists and expressed

solidarity with The Tribune and its correspondent over the Aadhaar data breach

expose.

Condemning the government for registration of a criminal case, the

journalists wore black badges to protest the UIDAl's action against the

newspaper and its correspondent, Rachna Khaira.

Several media organisations, including All India Newspaper Employees

Federation, extended support to the Tribune and criticised the Government. The

speakers at the meeting stressed on unity among the media fraternity in the wake

of the government's alleged systematic onslaught on the freedom of the press.

The speeches of the journalists were prefaced with a message by Harish Khare.

Editor-in- Chief. Tribune Group of Newspapers which was read by Associate

Editor KV Prasad.

Khare said rather than feeling outraged, he was inclined to be thankful to

the government, its empowered agency UIDAI and the police for slapping a

criminal case against the daily and the correspondent.

“We at The Tribune did nothing more than what any other set of editors

in a newspaper would have done. We do not think of ourselves as manning the

barricades. We do not subscribe to permanent insurrection. We are not chasing

any revolution.

“We believe in the Constitution and its values, we assiduously seek to

provide space to the voices of dissent. And, yet we are sought to be hauled up for

doing a spot of honest, legitimate investigative reporting; we are sought to be

intimidated for practising a bit of old fashioned journalism.

“And, so, if the arrogant rulers of the day can think of wanting to arrest

the reporter and The Tribune editors, which journalist in India can feel safe and

confident in pursuing an honest story.

“We need to be thankful to the authorities for proving once again that the

state does not have any monopoly over competence; that the state depends upon

81

functionaries who are not, and cannot be Gods; that these functionaries are often

inept, inadequate and ill equipped to be the repositories of our welfare,” said

Khare.

Siddharth Varadarajan, The Wire Editor-in-chief, said what happened

with The Tribune should be seen in the wider context of developments in the

past about three years, marked by effects to “suppress the citizens” right to know

and think, and the media's freedom".

National Alliance of Journalists' W Chandrakanth, Masoom Moradbadi

and Pranjoy Guha Thakurta and noted jurist Rajeev Dhawan spoke in a similar

vein.

Indian Newspaper Society (lNS) president Akila Urankar, on behalf of

INS members, expressed “serious concern" over attempts to browbeat the

reporter. “This report was eminently in public interest. This is a brazen attack on

the freedom of the press and displays lack of respect for ethical media practices,”

said Urankar.

(The Tribune, New Delhi, January 11, 2018)

INS 'concerned' over bid to browbeat media

Close on the heels of the Editor's Guild of India condemning the filing of

an FIR against a journalist of regional daily 'Tribune' for a report on an alleged

leak of Aadhaar data, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has also expressed

serious concern over the attempt to browbeat the government claims that, till

date, it has already saved about Rs 14.672 crore” by using Aadhaar through

various DBT programmes, a recent study by a Canadian agency claimed that the

government actually incurred a loss of Rs 97 crore." the report said

The report points out that the Conptroller and Auditor General of India

(CAG), too, has said that savings of Rs 22,000 crore claimed by the government

for FY15 and FY16 was largely due to the drastic media.

On behalf of INS, it’s President Akila Urankar said the society

“expresses serious concern about an attempt browbeat the reporter of Tribune

who report ed leak of crucial Aadhaar data. This is a brazen attack on the freedom

of pres”. Urankar said INS demands that the FIR lodged by UIDAI be

withdrawn.

82

Fell in prices of imported LPG from global factors. “In contrast, the

CAG noted it (savings) added up to less than Rs. 2000 crpre.' the report said.

The report warns that unless different authentic methods are available

concurrently for authentication. there is a risk that citizens will be troubled due to

the quality of biometrics captured and stored. “It could lead to 'identity denials'

wherein a person can be denied the fact that they are who they are,” the report

said.

(The Times of India, New Delhi, January 10, 2018)

Indian charged for smuggling fake scribes

An Indian journalist in Australia has been charged with people

smuggling after he helped a "fake media contingent" of eight other Indians arrive

in Brisbane to cover the Commonwealth Games, authorities said on Thursday.

Rakesh Kumar Sharma, 46, was detained at the Brisbane Airport

yesterday along with his eight Indian companions whose accreditation was

allegedly not genuine, Australian Border Force (ABF) said.

According to an ABF statement, Sharma has been charged with offences

under the Migration Act 1958, including people smuggling, after he allegedly

facilitated the travel of a “fake media contingent" to attend the Gold Coast

Commonwealth Games next week.

Nine individuals who arrived at Brisbane Airport held Temporary

Activity Visas and claimed to be accredited media representatives to cover the

games. An ABF officer in Bangkok had flagged the group on transit through

Thailand.

(The Telegraph, Calcutta, March 30, 2018)

83

Court v/s Media

Media can report Pachauri ‘case’

A Delhi court has refused to restrain the media from reporting the

alleged sexual harassment case against RK Pachauri, former Director General of

TERI. It said the earlier interim orders asking the media to report the high profile

case in a particular manner was "uncalled for" and hence, stood “vacated".

The court directed that all reportage on the matter should carry

Pachauri's or his representative's views.

"In the event if such views are not given by them, then a statement as to the

fact that an effort was made to ascertain their views should also be made in the

news, articles or programmes, as the case may be," it said. Also, the court

directed media houses to mention in their reports that “the matter is still sub

judice or still pending in the court.”

(Hindustan Times, New Delhi, February 15, 2018)

SC to media: Act in a responsible way

Sounding a note of caution against media trial, the Supreme Court today

asked journalists to act in a responsible manner and not to vilify anyone without

any basis. "They (journalists) are sitting on some kind of pulpit, that is not real

journalism... Journalists behave as if they have turned Popes or guardians

overnight,” said a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

The CJI, who has stood against gagging of the media in the recent past,

said, “I have said several times, we will never gag the Press... but you cannot

write anything or whatever strikes your imagination... I am sorry to say you

cannot write like that. That is irresponsible reporting,” the CJI said.

The Bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY

Chandrachud stayed till April 12 the proceedings before an Ahmedabad court

against a news portal and its journalists in a defamation case filed by BJP

president Amit Shah's son, Jay Shah.

84

Earlier the Gujarat High Court had dismissed a plea by ‘The Wire' for

quashing the criminal defamation case filed against it by Jay Shah for an article

published about his company.

The comments came in response to submissions by senior advocate

Kapil Sibal, who said defamation proceedings and gag orders could not be used

to "throttle” journalism. “How can anyone write whatever they feel about

anyone? There are limits... Their writings sometimes amount to sheer contempt

of court,” the Bench said. It, however, said it did not want to name any particular

electronic media organization.

The CJI clarified that his comments were not connected to the case being

heard.

Jay Shah had filed a criminal defamation case against The Wire'

journalists following an article alleging that the turnover of his company had

grown manifold since the BJP led government had assumed power at the Centre.

(The Tribune , Chandigarh, March 16, 2018)

SC upholds freedom of expression for media

The Supreme Court said on Monday that the media must be allowed

freedom of expression and refused to revive a defamation case against senior TV

journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

Dismissing an appeal filed by the daughter of a senior bureaucrat from Bihar,

a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said “You must learn to tolerate in

democracy. This court may have upheld the validity of the defamation law but

that does not mean that every case can be categorised as defamatory."

The petitioner wanted Sardesai to face defamation proceedings for a

report that was aired in 2010 in which she was accused of being involved in a

land-allotment scandal.

The bench said there may be instances of wrong reporting but they

cannot be called defamatory and advised the petitioner to rest the matter.

“Don't hold it forever,” the court said.

The petition was filed against Patna High Court's September 2017 order

that quashed the defamation case against Sardesai and held there was no direct

allegation against him.

85

Sardesai was the Editor-in-Chief of the IBN network at the time.

The complainant had lodged a case against the channel's reporter and

Sardesai for airing the story on the alleged scam.

In her appeal, the petitioner said Sardesai, as the head of the channel, was

aware of the incorrect report and must have given consent before it was aired.

(Hindustan Times, New Delhi, January 9, 2018)

.

86

Social Media

False news travels faster than true stories on Twitter: Study

False News on politics travels farther, faster, deeper and more broadly

than the truth on Twitter, a study has found. Researchers found the spread of false

information is essentially not due to robots programmed to disseminate

inaccurate stories. Instead, false news speeds faster around Twitter due to people

retweeting inaccurate news items “Twitter became our main source of news. But

in the aftermath of the tragic events. I realised that a good chunk of what I was

reading on social media was rumours: it was false news”said Soroush Vasoughi

from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

For the study, published in the journal Science, the researchers tracked

roughly 126,000 cascades of news stories spreading on Twitter which were

cumulatively tweeted over 45 millen times by about 3 million people, from

2006, to 2017."We found that falsehood defuses significantly farther, faster

deeper, and more broadly than the truth, in all categories of information, and in

many cases by an order of magnitude.” Said Sinan Aral from MIT.

The study found false news stories are 70 percent more likely to be

retweeted than true stories are. It takes true stones about six times as long to

reach 1500 people as it does for false stories to reach the same number of people.

When it comes to Twitters cascades.' or unbroken retweet chains. falsehoods

reach a cascade depth of 10 about 20 times faster than facts and falsehoods are

retweeted by unique users more broadly than true statements.

“False news is more novel and people are more likely to share novel

information.” said Aral. “And on social networks, people can gain attention by

being the first to share previously unknown (but possibly false) information.

Thus, “people who share novel information are seen as being in the

know” Aral said

(The Indian Express, New Delhi ,March 10, 2018)

87

Facebook apologises for data scandal in UK newspaper ads

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in almost all of

Britain's national newspaper on Sunday to apologies for a huge data privacy

scandal.

“We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t we do

not deserve it.” the back page ads state.

Zuckerberg explained there was a quiz developed by a university

researcher “that leaked Facebook data of millions of people in 2014”.

This was a breach of trust, and I'm sorry we did not do more at the time.

We are now taking steps to make sure this does not happen again,” he said.

The statement reflects public statements Zuckerberg made last week

after the row prompted investigation in Europe and the United States, and sent

Facebook's share price plunging.

Zuckerberg repeated that Facebook had changed the rules so no such

data breach could happen again.

We are also investigating every single app that had access to large

amounts of data before we fixed this we expect there are others,” he wrote.

“And when we find them, we will ban them and tell everyone affected.”

There was no mention of the British firm accused of using the data,

Cambridge Analytical, which worked on US President Donald Trump's 2016

campaign.

It too has blamed the University of Cambridge researcher, Alexsandr

Kogan, for any potential breach of data rules.

Kogan created a lifestyle quiz app for Facebook which was downloaded

by 2,70,000 people, but allowed access to tens of millions of their contacts.

Facebook says he passed this to Cambridge Analytica without its

knowledge kogan says he is being made a scapegoat.

(The Statesman, New Delhi, March, 26 2018)

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