Freedom of Press

                         FREEDOM OF PRESS


INTRODUCTION:

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 Freedom Of Press and the Freedom Of Expression can be regarded as the very basis of a democratic form of government. Every business enterprise is involved in the laws of the nation, the state and the community in which it operates. Newspaper publishers find themselves more ‘hemmed in’ by legal restrictions than many other businesses do – despite the fact that the freedom of press is protected by the Indian constitution. The various Acts, which have to be taken into consideration when dealing with the regulations imposed upon the Print Media, are:
Ø The Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 – This Act regulates printing presses and newspapers and makes registration with an appointed Authority compulsory for all printing presses.
Ø The Press (Objectionable Matters) Act, 1951 – This enactment provides against the printing and publication of incitement to crime and other objectionable matters.  
Ø The Newspaper (Prices and Pages) Act, 1956 – This statute empowers the Central Government to regulate the price of newspapers in relation to the number of pages and size and also to regulate the allocation of space to be allowed for advertising matter.
When dealing with this statute, it will be worthwhile to mention about the case of Sakal Papers Ltd. v. Union of India.
In this case, the Daily Newspapers (Price and Control) Order, 1960, which fixed a minimum price and number of pages, which a newspaper is entitled to publish, was challenged as unconstitutional. The State justified the law as a reasonable restriction on a business activity of a citizen. The Supreme Court struck down the Order rejecting the State’s argument. The Court opined that, the right of freedom of speech and expression couldn’t be taken away with the object of placing restrictions on the business activity of the citizens. Freedom of speech can be restricted only on the grounds mentioned in clause (2) of Article 19.








CONSTITUTIONAL PRESEPTIVES

There was no constitutional or statutory guarantee of freedom of an individual or press. At most, some common law freedom could be claimed by the press, as observed by the Privy Council in Channing Arnold v. King Emperor 1:
The freedom of the journalist is an ordinary part of the freedom of the subject and to whatever length, the subject in general may go, so also May the journalist, but apart from statute law his privilege is no other and no higher. The range of his assertions, his criticisms or his comments is as wide as, and no wider than that of any subject.
With object and views, the Preamble of the Indian Constitution ensures to all citizens inter ails, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. The constitutional significance of the freedom of the speech consists in the preamble of Constitution and is transformed as fundamental and human right in Article 19(1)(a) as freedom of speech and expression.
“The press [is] the only tocsin of a nation. [When it] is completely silenced… all means of a general effort [are] taken away”---- THOMAS JEFFORSON

The present study is intended to present the provisions of the Indian Constitution and other national instruments which recognize the freedom of the press as an integral part of the freedom of speech and expression, the basic fundamental rights of human being. It is also to be examined how far freedom of press has constitution significance in achieving free, fair and real democracy. The study also covers the view taken by the Supreme Court on the subject.
The main object of providing guaranteed of freedom of press is for creating a fourth institution beyond the control of state authorities, as an addition check on the three official branches, executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. It is the primary function of the press to provide comprehensive and objective information on all aspects of the country, social, economic, and political life.
For achieving the main objects, freedom of the press has been included as a part of freedom of speech and expression which is an universally recognized right adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organizations on 10th December, 1948. The heart in the declaration contained in Article 19 says as follows:
Everyone has the right to freedom and opinion and expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In India, the freedom of press is implied from the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article19 (1)(a) of the Constitution of  India . Article19 (1) (a) says that all citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression. But this right is subject to reasonable restriction exposed on the expression of this right for certain purposes under Article19 (2).
In printers (Mysore) Ltd.v.CTO11 the Supreme Court has reiterated that though the freedom of the press is not expressly guaranteed as a fundamental right, it is implicit in the freedom of speech of expression. Freedom of the press has always been a cherished right in all democratic countries and the press has rightly been described as the fourth chamber of democracy.
In R. Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu 13 the Supreme Court of India has held that freedom of the press extends to engaging in uninhabited debate about the involvement of public figures in public issues and events. But, as regards their private life, a proper balancing of freedom of the press as well as the right of privacy and maintained defamation has to be performed in terms of the democratic way of life laid down in the constitution.
In D.C.Saxena (Dr.) v.Chief Justice of India 18 Supreme court has held that no one else has the power to accuse a judge of his misbehavior, partiality or incapacity. The purpose of such a protection is to ensure independence of judiciary so that the judges could decide cases without fear or favor as the courts are created constitutionally for the dispensation of justice.









Current Scenario of Press & 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.

 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.


Restrictions on Freedom of Press in India

The freedom of press comes within the ambit of freedom of speech & expression. In a democracy, freedom of press is highly essential as it (the press) acts as a watchdog on the three organs of a democracy viz. the legislature, the executive & the judiciary. But, the freedom of press is not absolute in nature. It is subject to certain restrictions which are mentioned in Article 19(2) of the Constitution. The following are the grounds of restrictions laid down in Article 19(2) :-

1)Sovereignty &Integrity of  India

2)Security of the State

3)Friendly relations with Foreign State
4)Public Order

5)Decency or Morality

6)Contempt of  Court




The grounds of ‘Public Order’ & ‘Friendly relations with Foreign States’ was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act,1951. While the ground of ‘Sovereignty & Integrity of India’ was added by the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963.














Status of Freedom of Press in India
CASES:

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,5 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 Reforms6 , “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,7 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.

There are many instances when the freedom of press has been suppressed by the legislature.
In Sakal Papers v/s Union of India,9 the Daily Newspapers (Price and Page) Order, 1960, which fixed the number of pages and size which a newspaper could publish at a price was held to be violative of freedom of press and not a reasonable restriction under the Article 19(2).

In Bennett Coleman and Co. v/s Union of India,10 the validity of the Newsprint Control Order, which fixed the maximum number of pages, was struck down by the Court holding it to be violative of provision of Article 19(1)(a) and not to be reasonable restriction under Article 19(2). The Court also rejected the plea of the Government that it would help small newspapers to grow.











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.