UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & ENERGY STUDIES

SCHOOL OF LAW

B.A. LL.B. (HONS.) CRIMINAL LAWS

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2017- 22 SESSION: JANUARY- MAY 2019

PROJECT

FOR

Interpretation of Statutes

Under the Supervision of: Prof. Ashutosh Tripathi

NAME: ABHINAV LAL ; ANUJ SINGH BISHT;

PRIYARANJAN

SAP NO: 500064349; 500064030; 5000

ROLL NO: R154217137;R154217125;R154217135

 FREEDOM OF PRESS IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION

Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the principle that communication and
expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially
published materials, should be considered a right to be exercised freely. Such freedom
implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state; its preservation may be
sought through constitutional or other legal protections.

With respect to governmental information, any government may distinguish which materials
are public or protected from disclosure to the public. State materials are protected due to
either of two reasons: the classification of information as sensitive, classified or secret, or the
relevance of the information to protecting the national interest. Many governments are also
subject to sunshine laws or freedom of information legislation that are used to define the
ambit of national interest.

Freedom of the press is the freedom of communication & expression through vehicles
including various electronic media & published materials. While such freedom mostly
implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation may be sought
through constitutional or other protection.

The Indian Press has a long history right from the times of British rule in the country. The
British Government enacted a number of legislations to control the press, like the Indian
Press Act, 1910, then in 1931-32 the Indian Press (Emergency) Act etc. During the Second
World War (1939-45), the executive exercised exhaustive powers under the Defence of India
Act & enforced censorship on press. At the same time the publication of all news relating to
the Congress activities declared illegal.

In the Post-Constitutional Era, there is a change in the outlook. The Constitution of India in
Article 19(1) (a) lays down that “All citizens shall have the right, to freedom of speech &
expression.” Unlike, the U.S. Constitution, the Indian Constitution does not expressly provide
freedom of press. However, it is now well settled that the words “speech & expression” in
Article 19(1) (a) includes freedom of press also. The freedom of press means freedom from
interference from authority which would have the effect of interference with the content &
circulation of newspapers. The Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution is subject to certain
restrictions laid down in Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

HISTORY

The first newspaper in India—Hicky's Bengal Gazette—was started in 1780 under the British
Raj by James Augustus Hicky. Other newspapers such as The India Gazette, The Calcutta
Gazette, The Madras Courier (1785), and The Bombay Herald(1789) soon followed. These
newspapers carried news of the areas under the British rule.The Bombay Samachar, founded
in 1822 and printed in Gujarati is the oldest newspaper in Asia still in print. On May 30, 1826
Udant Martand (The Rising Sun), the first Hindi-language newspaper published in India,
started from Calcutta (now Kolkata), published every Tuesday by Pt. Jugal Kishore Shukla.

Currently India publishes about 1,000 Hindi Dailies that have a total circulation of about 80
million copies. English, the second language in terms of number of daily newspapers, has
about 250 dailies with a circulation of about 40 million copies. The prominent Hindi
newspapers are Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Navbharat Times, Hindustan
Dainik, Prabhat Khabar, Rajasthan Patrika, and Nai Dunia.

In terms of readership, Dainik Jagran is the most popular Hindi daily with a total readership
(TR) of 54,583,000, according to IRS Round One 2009. Dainik Bhaskar is the second most
popular with a total readership of 33,500,000. Amar Ujala with TR of 28,674,000, Hindustan
Dainik with TR of 26,769,000 and Rajasthan Patrika with a TR of 14,051,000 are placed at
the next three positions. The total readership of Top 10 Hindi dailies is estimated at 188.68
million, nearly five times of Top 10 English dailies that have 38.76 million total readership.

The prominent English newspapers are The Times of India, founded in 1838 as The Bombay
Times and Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd, a colonial enterprise now
owned by an Indian conglomerate; The Times Group. The Hindustan Times was founded in
1924 during the Indian Independence Movement ('Hindustan' being the historical name of
India), it is published by HT Media Ltd. The Hindu was founded in 1878 by a group known
as Triplicane Six consisting of four law students and two teachers in Madras (now Chennai),
it is now owned by The Hindu Group.

In the 1950s 214 daily newspapers were published in the country. Out of these, 44 were
English language dailies while the rest were published in various regional and national
languages.This number rose to 3,805 dailies in 1993 with the total number of newspapers
published in the country reached 35,595.

The main regional newspapers of India include the Marathi language Lokmat, the Gujarati
Language Gujarat Samachar, the Malayalam language Malayala Manorama, the Tamil
language Daily Thanthi, the Telugu language, the Kannada language Vijaya Karnataka and
the Bengali language Anandabazar Patrika.

STATUS OF FREEDOM OF PRESS IN INDIA

In Romesh Thapar v/s State of Madras,4 Patanjali Shastri,CJ, observed that “Freedom of
speech & of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organization, for without free
political discussion no public education, so essential for the proper functioning of the process
of popular government, is possible.” In this case, entry and circulation of the English journal
“Cross Road”, printed and published in Bombay, was banned by the Government of Madras.
The same was held to be violative of the freedom of speech and expression, as “without
liberty of circulation, publication would be of little value”.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court observed in Union of India v/s Association for Democratic
Reforms , “One-sided information, disinformation, misinformation and non information, all
equally create an uninformed citizenry which makes democracy a farce. Freedom of speech
and expression includes right to impart and receive information which includes freedom to
hold opinions”. In Indian Express Newspapers v/s Union of India, it has been held that the
press plays a very significant role in the democratic machinery. The courts have duty to
uphold the freedom of press and invalidate all laws and administrative actions that abridge
that freedom. Freedom of press has three essential elements. They are:

1. freedom of access to all sources of information,

2. Freedom of publication, and

3. Freedom of circulation.

The Indian Constitution, while not mentioning the word "press", provides for "the right to
freedom of speech and expression" (Article 19(1) a). However this right is subject to
restrictions under sub clause, whereby this freedom can be restricted for reasons of
"sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign
States, public order, preserving decency, preserving morality, in relation to contempt, court,
defamation, or incitement to an offense". Laws such as the Official Secrets Act and
Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (PoTA) have been used to limit press freedom. Under
PoTA, person could be detained for up to six months for being in contact with a terrorist or
terrorist group. PoTA was repealed in 2006, but the Official Secrets Act 1923 continues.

For the first half-century of independence, media control by the state was the major constraint
on press freedom. Indira Gandhi famously stated in 1975 that All India Radio is "a
Government organ, it is going to remain a Government organ..." With the liberalization
starting in the 1990s, private control of media has burgeoned, leading to increasing
independence and greater scrutiny of government.

It ranks poorly at 138th rank out of 180 listed countries in the Press Freedom Index 2018
released by Reporters Without Borders (RWB). Analytically India's press freedom, as could
be deduced by the Press Freedom Index, has constantly reduced since 2002, when it
culminated in terms of apparent freedom, achieving a rank of 80 among the reported
countries. In 2018, India's freedom of press ranking declined two placed to 138. In explaining
the decline, RWB cited growing intolerance from Hindu nationalist supporters of Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the murders of journalists such as Gauri Lankesh

CASES RELATED TO FREEDOM OF PRESS IN INDIA

1. In the Printers (Mysore) Ltd v.Astt Commercial Tax Officer , The Supreme Court
has held that no sales tax can be imposing on sale of newspaper in the country.
However, the court clarified that this does not mean that press is safe either from
taxation or from journal law relating to industrial relations or from the state regulation
of the condition of service of its employees. The prohibition is upon the imposition of
any restrictions to broadcast information and to the circulation of the newspapers.
A freedom of press has always been a cherished right on all democratic countries. The
newspapers not only survey news but also ideas, opinion and ideologies, beside much
else. They are suppose to guard public interest by bringing to fore the misdeeds,
failings and lapses of the government and other bodies exercising governing power
The court held that the freedom of press stands at higher footing than other enterprises
in this view, the test for determining the virus of a statute taxing news print have,
therefore, to be different from the test usually to be adopted. The judges held that the
newspapers are entitled to the benefit of the central sale tax 4% on purchase of raw
material which they require for printing and publishing of newspapers.
2. Indian Express Newspapers v. Union of India speaking about the utility of freedom
of press the court observes:-
“The expression “freedom of the press” has not been issues in article 19 but it is
comprehended within article 19(1)(a). The expression means freedom from
interference from authority which would have the effect of the interference with the
content nd the circulation of the newspapers and cannot be any interference with that
freedom in the name of public interest. Freedom of press is the heart of social and
political intercourse it is the primary duty of the courts to up hold the freedom of the
press and in validate all laws or administrative actions with interfere with it contrary
to the constitutional mandate.”
The question of validity of censorship came up for consideration in the case of Brij
Bhushan v. State of Delhi . In that case the Chief Commissioner of Delhi, in
pursuance of Section 7 of the East Punjab Safety Act, 1949 issued an order against the
printer, publisher and the editor of an English Weekly of Delhi, called the Organizer,
directing them to submit for analysis in duplicate before publication till further orders,
all communal matters and news and views, about the Pakistan including the
photographs and cartoons other than those derived from official source of supplied by
the news agencies.
The Court struck down the order, observing that the press which is the essential part
of the freedom of the speech and expression declared by Article 19(1)(a). Similarly,
prohibiting newspaper from the publication of its own views or the views of the
correspondence about the burning topic of the day is the serious encroachment on the
valuable rights of the freedom of speech and expression.

3. In Express Newspapers v. Union of India In this case the validity of the Working
Journalist Act 1955 was challenged. This Act was enacted to regulate conditions of
service of persons employed in newspaper industries. The Court held that Act is valid
.It is said that press was not immune from laws of general application or ordinary
forms of taxation or laws of industrial relations .The Act was passed to improve the
service conditions of the women in the newspaper industry and therefore, impose
reasonable restriction on the right guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a).
 4. In Romesh Thapper v. State of Madras, a law banning entry and circulation of
journal in a state was held to be invalid . The Court Held that that there can be no
doubt that freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of propagation of
ideas, and that freedom is ensured by the freedom of circulation .A law which
authorizes imposition of restrictions on grounds of ‘public safety or the ‘maintenance
of public order’ falls outside the scope of the authorized restrictions under clause (2)
and therefore void and unconstitutional.

5. In Sakal Papers Ltd v. Union of India the Daily Newspaper (Price and Control)
Order, 1960, which fixed a minimum price and number of pages which a newspaper
was entitled to publish was challenged as unconstitutional by the petitioner on the
ground that it infringed the liberty of press. The petitioner was required to increase the
price of their newspaper without increasing the pages. An increase in price without
any increase in number of pages would reduce the volume of the circulation. On the
other hand, any decrease in the number of pages would reduce the column, space for
news, views, or ideas. The order therefore, acted as double-edged knife. It cuts
circulation by a price rise or publication or dissemination of news, ideas and
knowledge by restricting column space consequently to decrease in the number of
pages. The State justify the law as a reasonable restriction on a business activity of a
newspaper in the interest of the general
Public. The Court struck down the order rejecting the State argument .It said that the
right of freedom of speech and expression cannot be taken away with the object of
placing the restrictions on the business activity of a citizen. Freedom of Speech can be
only be restricted on the grounds mentioned in clause (2) of Article 19. It cannot, like
the freedom to carry on business, be shortened in the interest of the general public.

CURRENT SCENERIO OF PRESS AND ITS ACHIEVEMENTS.

As discussed earlier, press is regarded as one of the pillars of a democracy as it acts as a

watchdog of the three organs of democracy. Though, freedom of speech & expression
(including of press) is enjoyed by the citizens but there are many instances where the press
has to face difficulties as well. In the recent past, in the Tehelka Case, the portal Tehelka.com
was forced to shut down completely & its journalists were continuously harassed as the
journalists exposed the ‘scam’ in the defence ministry involving Ex-Defence Personnel &
Central Government Ministers. There are many instances where journalists were threatened
& even assaulted at times.

Despite of these difficulties the press has achieved a lot of success in the recent past. In
Jessica Lal’s case, Manu Sharma, son of a Haryana minister, killed Jessica on April 29, 1999,
because she refused to serve him liquor in the restaurant where she was working. The case
was closed and all the accused were freed due to lack of evidences, but finally, the case was
reopened after media and public outcry, which led to Sharma’s conviction. In Priyadarshini
Mattoo’s Case, Santosh Kumar, son of an IPS officer raped and killed his colleague,
Priyadarshini Mattoo, a law student in 1996, after she refused his proposal. Ailing and aged
father of Priyadarshini got judgment in October 2006, after a long run trial. The Delhi High
Court rebuked lower courts and authority under investigation for acquittal of accused. The
media played a significant role in this case as well.Similary,in Nitish Katara’s case the media
played an important role. In Aarushi Talwar’s murder case, media played an important part
by highlighting the loopholes in the case owing to which the police was forced to take some
action. Aarushi’s father is the prime suspect in this case.Recently, in Ruchika’s Case,
Ruchika Girhotra, a 14-year-old tennis player, was molested by then Haryana police IG
S.P.S. Rathore in Panchkula in 1990.Three years later, Ruchika killed herself, which her
friend and case witness Aradhana attributes to the harassment of Ruchika and her family by
those in power. Nineteen years later, Rathore walks away with six months of rigorous
imprisonment and a 1000-rupee fine, reportedly due to his old age and the “prolonged trial”.
This led to public outrage & media played a significant role in it. Later on the Government of
India asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to re-investigate the case & the police medals
awarded to S.P.S. Rathore was also stripped. A case of Abetment of Suicide under Section
306 of the IPC was also filed against S.P.S.Rathore.In 2005 news channel Aaj-Tak carried
out Operation Duryodhana which revealed 11 MP’s of the Lok Sakha accepting cash for
asking question in the Lok Sabha. Later on an Investigation Committee was set up headed by
Senior Congress MP Pawan Kumar Bansal. All the 11 MP’s were found guilty & were
sacked from the Lok Sabha.
PRESS NEEDS TO BE RESPONSIBLE

Though, the press has played significant roles for public welfare but at times it act
irresponsibly. For instance the electronic media hyped the Abhi-Ash wedding in such a way
that other important news were neglected. In Prof. Sabharwal’s case, when Prof. Sabharwal
was killed by ABVP activists, there were a number of news channels & newspaper
correspondent were present & they had evidence of the murder but the media acted
irresponsibly & the police called it an ‘Open & Shut Case’. Recently, when Mumbai was
under terror threat in 26/11 the media acted irresponsibly by telecasting live the long sisty
hour Operation Black Tornedo by the security forces to combat the attack at The Taj Mahal
Palace Hotel & Nariman House. It included live feed of air dropping NSG Commandoes on
the rooftop of Nariman House.

At times news channel covers news such as ‘Bollywood Gossips’ & ‘Page 3’ etc which has
reduced them to a mere ‘Entertainment Channel’. There are many important issues which
should be covered by the media but unfortunately it does not. In April 2009, Union Home
Minister P.Chidambaram was addressing the media at a press conference a journalist threw
show at the minister on protest of acquittal of a Congress leader accused of leading Anti-Sikh
riots in 1984. The journalist named Jarnal Singh was a reporter of Dainik Jagran, a local
newspaper. Later on he apologized to the Union Home minister for his act. This was one of
the most condemnable act which showed the ugly side of the press.
 CONCLUSION

In words of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, "The role of journalism should be
service. The Press is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges the
whole countryside and devastates crops, even so an uncontrolled pen serves but to destroy."
There are three pillars of a democracy viz. the legislative, the executive & the judiciary. The
press acts as the fourth pillar of a democracy. The press has played many significant roles in
delivering justice, public welfare etc.

The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) has in its
final report submitted to the Government recommended that Article 19(1)(a) which deals
with “freedom of speech & expression” must expressly include the freedom of the press and
other media, the freedom to hold opinion and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas.

It has been sixty years since India became Republic & commencement of the Constitution
there is been a lot of ups & down in our democracy & the press also has come across age. As
being a subject of the largest democracy of the world we should remember the words of our
former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, “Freedom of Press is an Article of Faith with us,
sanctified by our Constitution, validated by four decades of freedom and indispensable to our
future as a Nation.”

Thus, we can conclude that the time has come for the press of largest democracy of the world
to work with hand-in-hand with judiciary for the welfare of its subjects. The day is not far
away when there will be no eclipse of injustice & the sun of justice will shine brightly
forever.