Curb on Indian media

05 Apr Curb on Indian media

Posted at 05 Apr 2021 in Current Affairs by 0 Comments

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(GS PAPER-2, Transparency and Accountability

Source- Livemint)

Context-

Recently United States department released the Human Rights report 2020

Highlights of the report-

The report which is submitted each year to the US Congress is retrospective and contains a country-wise discussion of the state’s human right.
Although the Indian government respected the freedom of expression there were several instances in which the government or actors considered close to the government allegedly pressurized or harassed media outlets critical of the government including through online trolling

The report mentions the following cases-

April 2020 detention of a pregnant Jamia Millia student who was protesting the government’s citizenship laws
The arrest of JNU student under the unlawful activities prevention act

what is freedom of the press-

Freedom of the press is not expressly protected by Indian legal system but it is implicitly protected under article 19(1)(a) of the constitution which state all citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression
In 1950 the supreme court in Romesh Thapar vs the State of Madras observe that freedom of press lay at the foundation of all democratic organization

However, freedom of the press is also not absolute-

The law could impose certain restriction under Article 19(2) which is as follows-

matters related to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India the security of the state friendly relation with foreign state public order decency or morality

Importance of the freedom of the press-

With Free media, people will be able to participate in the decisions of the government
Hence media can be rightly considered as the fourth pillar of democracy

– Khyati Khare