The Press Council of India (PCI), in a report, has urged the Union government to promulgate a national law to ensure security and protection for journalists.
In other recommendations to the government, the PCI wants more teeth for laws protecting journalists, so that those attacking them can be speedily brought to book.
Note of dissent
In an unprecedented inclusion in the report, Press Council chairperson Ranjana Prakash Desai has recorded a ‘note’ of dissent.
She has contested the veracity of the World Freedom Index report of the French union ‘Reporters Sans Frontiers’ (RSF) and the data on the arrest and detentions of journalists gleaned by the NGO India Freedom of Expression.
Desai has also taken umbrage that in some cases, the view of the law enforcement authorities has not been cited.
What the Council wants
To protect journalists from violent events, the top four recommendations made by the PCI to the Union government are:
1. A national law for the security and protection of journalists
2. Giving more teeth to the Press Council of India Act, 1978, so that attacks on journalists can be speedily addressed
3. Sensitising police personnel and codifying norms of behaviour for law enforcement agencies towards the fourth estate. Accordingly, before detaining or arresting a journalist, the normal standard operating procedure (SOP) for the security forces should be to verify with the editor or publisher to know if the concerned journalist was on assignment.
4. Constant and detailed monitoring of the complaints filed by journalists. These should be documented every quarterly or half-yearly.
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Council adopts report
The PCI, on September 27, adopted the report, titled ‘Arrests, wrongful detentions and intimidation of media personnel”, authored by PCI member Gurbir Singh.
Citing the India Press Freedom Annual Report compiled by the NGO India Freedom of Expression Initiative, the report says that in 2023, five journalists were killed and 226 were targeted by state agencies, non-state political actors, anti-social elements and criminals.
The report largely relies on cases and complaints that have come before or been examined by the press body.
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It includes the Newsclick case, where a special cell of the Delhi police last year raided the homes of 86 persons, of whom 61 were journalists. Two of those detained were formally arrested. The Delhi police also seized 306 communication gadgets, including cell phones and laptops, and impounded the passports of four journalists.
Tripura government criticised
The report also highlights that many state actors unfairly target the messenger of news, particularly when there is a breakdown of law and order.
In this regard, the Tripura government, unable to handle communal riots in November 2021, arrested journalists under the draconian UAPA Act as well as lawyers who were on a fact-finding mission, it says.
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Similarly, during the February 2020 communal riots in Delhi in which over 50 persons were killed, many journalists covering the conflict were arrested or detained and charged with instigating “communal tension”, it adds.
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