India tightens press controls

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34021, 10 December 1975, Page 21

India tightens press controls

Oew Zealand Press Association—Copyright) NEW DELHI. December 8. The Indian Government tightened its controls of the already heavily-censored Indian press today, banning publication of anything that the authorities consider objectionable.

The Government simultaneously removed immunities on coverage of Parliament and abolished the nine-vear-old Press Council. The actions were taken in three sweeping executive ordinances approved by the Cabinet and taken by special courier to Carior where they were signed by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who is making State visits to Egypt and Sudan this week. the Government has said that it will lift censorship once the national emergency,! proclaimed last June 26, is over.

But the new ordinances, which will be sent to Parliament for its approval next month, were promulgated as ordinary legislation that will continue as law even after the emergency. The ban, according to the announcement, would extend to anything that is likely to: excite disaffection against the constitutionallv-estab-lished Government. However, the announcement added, the law protects writings that criticise the action-, of the Government in a constructive manner.

An official statement said that the measure was designed to help the press grow, not to restrict it. To enforce the measure, the Government will have the power to demand cash securities from printers, publishers, and editors held responsible for publishing objectionable material. The securities could be forfeited if a second offence is committed.

The Government also can prevent distribution of an objectionable publication and close down the press used to print it.

Persons found guilty can appeal against the decision to the : entral Government itself or to a court

In removing immunities on Parliament coverage, the Government repealed an act introduced in 1956 by Feroze Gandhi, the Prime Minister’s late husband, a Parliamentarian who also was active in journalism.

That act gave the press total immunity from libel suits for anything reported from Parliament’s proceedings. The purpose of the Act was to protect the press when it reports various allegations made by members. The Government said that the 1956 measure has largely been misused, especially over the last few years, with the result that newspapers have been splattered with reproductions of observations that would have' ! amounted to violation of the 'common laws of the land. The abolition of the Press Council ended a decade-old experiment to have representatives of the Government and the press sit together to resolve problems. , The Government announcement said the Press Council has failed to set out and enforce any code of con- : duct and build a case law I since, generally, complaints I of only comparatively minor 'character were dealt with by the council.