Reporter challenges India’s stern law

Press, 2 November 1984, Page 21

Reporter challenges India’s stern law

NYT New Delhi India’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear a motion by an reporter challenging the validity of a sweeping antiterrorist law and stern press censorship rules in Punjab.

Brahma Chellaney, is wanted by the Punjab state government for a report on the purported killing of Sikhs by Indian soldiers in June during the raid on the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The challenge widened the scope of the news agency’s confrontation with the government. From a case concerned with the safety of an employee, it has now developed into one that questions the restric-

tions on individual liberty and press freedom in Punjab.

The case also raises the level of the debate to the nation’s highest judicial chamber. A five-member constitution bench, led by Justice, Yeshwant Vishnu, Chandrachud, scheduled a second hearing for next Tuesday. Chandrachud said the reporter would remain free on bail until the next hearing. Extending bail would also be examined at that court session.

Earlier, the same panel agreed to hear a similar petition by the former Maharajah of Patiala, Amrinder Singh, challenging

the constitutional validity of what is called the TerroristAffected Areas Act and the censorship rules.

The act sets up special courts to deal with terrorist suspects; the censorship orders, later relaxed in most parts of Punjab, banned the publication and transmission of any reports, editorials, cartoons and even advertisements that could spark sectarian fighting between Hindus and Sikhs.

Chellaney, aged 27, an Indian national, has been charged with falsely reporting on certain aspects of the army’s assault on the Golden Temple and illegally

transmitting the news out of Punjab, thus inflaming religious antagonism, although the report was not published in India.

The case against Chellaney stemmed from a report in June about the temple raid that said as many as 1,200 people were killed in the action and that several Sikhs had been found shot dead with their hands tied behind their backs.

The government has denounced the report as false. The Associated Press stands by the report.

Earlier in October, Chellaney was freed on bail after he voluntarily surrendered before a magistrate.