The document summarizes the history of press freedom in India after independence. It discusses the relatively liberal attitudes of prime ministers Nehru and Desai toward press freedom, as well as the more authoritarian attitudes of Indira Gandhi and her crackdowns on press freedom during the Emergency period from 1975-1977. It also outlines some of the laws and acts passed at different times to regulate or restrict the press. Overall it traces the evolution of press freedom from initial independence to the present day.

1. Freedom of PRESS IN INDIA
AFTER INDEPENDENCE
Presented by-
Pulakesh Das
Rinkumani Pathak
Debashis Pratim Sarma

3. PRESS DURING NEHRU’S PRIME
MINISTERSHIP
• Before Independence the Govt’s attitude to the press
depended on the Governor Generals and Viceroys in
power.
• After Independence the attitude depended on the Prime
Minister at that time.
• By the time India became independent there were several
oppressive legislations dealing with the press. Therefore,
the Govt. of India constituted a Press Law Enquiry
Committee under the Chairmanship of Ganganath Jha.
• During the period of Nehru’s Prime Ministership, the press
enjoyed liberty since he had a liberal outlook towards life.

4. • He always welcomed criticism of his government and he also
firmly believed that through criticism the working of the govt.
can be improved.
• Although Nehru was a liberal and believed in freedom of the
Press, but he was forced to enact certain Acts since Press was
contributing to the difficult situations created by the partition
of India and Pakistan on religious lines.
• Consequently, on October 23, 1951 he got passed a new Act
called “The Press Objectionable Matters Act”.

5. • This Act was a reflection of Nehru’s concern over the
newspapers’ role in rousing communal discontent in India.
• The passage of this Act brought protest from the editors and
journalists throughout the country.
• The All India Newspaper Editors’ Conference, the Indian
Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) and the Language
Newspaper Association passed resolutions protesting against
this Act.

6. • With the Constitution of India came into effect on 26th
January, 1950 the Indian citizens got the much required
Freedom of Expression in Article 19 of it.
• It became the morale booster for the Press as they got the
legal right to express which was suppressed by the Colonizers.
• In September 1952, under the chairmanship of Justice G.S.
Rajadhyaksha the first Press Commission was appointed.
• The Commission which submitted its report in 1954, made
several important recommendations which helped in
constituting a number of institutions and organizing the
profession of journalism in a systematic manner.

7. Press during Indira Gandhi’s regime
• With the coming of the first Woman Prime Minister of India and
the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Press in India witnessed a
significant swing from the freedom of the Press to the control
and imposition on the Press by the Govt.
• While Nehru was a liberal and believed in freedom of the press,
Mrs. Indira Gandhi was authoritarian and believed in curbing of
the press.
• When war was declared with Pakistan in 1971, the Defence and
Internal Security of India Act was signed into law which resulted
in prohibiting the printing or publishing of any newspaper, book
or other document detrimental to the defence and security of
India
• It empowered the Government to confiscate copies of any
printed matter which might be inflammatory and to close down
the presses.

9. Death of D.E.M.O’ cracy, mourned by his wife T.Ruth, his
son L.I. Bertie, and his daughters Faith, Hope and Justice.
Press Freedom and Internal
Emergency

10. Freedom Gained at Midnight, Lost at
Midnight
• On June 26,1975 govt. issued ‘Central Censorship Order’
and ‘Guidelines for the Press in the Present Emergency’
• Central Censorship Order prohibited publication of any
news, comments or other materials relating to actions taken
by govt. without being first submitted for scrutiny to an
authorized officer.
• Indian Express and Statesman protested against the pre-
censorship by leaving their editorial sections blank.
• Magazines and journals including Himmat, Seminar,
Mainstream, Janata, Quest, Freedom First, Frontier,
Sadhana, Tughlak, Swarajya and Neerikshak were censored
and banned.

11. • On Feb 11, 1976 Prevention of Publication of Objectional
Matters Act 1976 was passed.
• Prohibited publications detrimental to the sovereignty and
integrity of India, friendly relations with foreign countries,
public order, decency, morality or publications inciting the
breaking of law.
• It was grossly misused to silence the newspapers and
journalists critical of the govt.
• TV and Radio broadcasting systems were already under the
control of govt.

12. Indira Gandhi’s 3 Methods of Manipulating
Newspapers
• 1) allocation of government advertising and news print.
• (2) shotgun merger of the news agencies.
• (3) use of fear-arousal techniques on newspaper publishers,
journalists and individual shareholders.

13. • 253 journalists were arrested.
• They were arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security
Act and DISIR( Defence and Internal Security of Indian
Rules)
• Fifty one journalists were deprived of accreditation.
• Seven Foreign Correspondents were expelled from the
country, twenty nine foreign correspondents banned from
entering India.
• BBC was forced to withdraw its correspondent Mark Tully
• Kishore Kumar was banned by AIR after he refused to
support Youth Congress.

14. Internal Emergency of India and its Global
Impact
• According to a 1975 survey released by Freedom House, a
non-profit organization, the percentage of the world's
population living in societies with a free press declined from
35 to 19.8 percent in 1975.
• The principal reason for this decline was the imposition of
press censorship in India during internal emergency.
• Strengthened the existing trend of increasing governmental
control of mass media in the countries of Asia, Africa and
South America

15. Press Freedom During Janata Party’s Rule
• Freedom of Press was restored.
• PM Morarji Desai was liberal towards press.
• MK Das Committee and Shah Commission were constituted
to enquire into the violations of Press freedom during
emergency.
• Prevention of Publication of the objectionable Matter Act
1976 was repealed.
• 2nd Press Commission was formed in 1978.
• To free broadcast media from govermental control
appointed a 12 member working group headed by B G
Verghese.
• Appointed a 12 member committee on news agencies
headed by noted journalist Kuldip Nayar. It was associated
with restructuring the only news agency called Samachar.

17. Rajiv Gandhi-Present
• When the press started becoming critical of Rajiv Gandhi’s government
he got the Defamation Bill, 1988, passed in LokSabha, thereby making
an attempt to suppress the press.
• P.L. Lakhanpal, a Stockholm-based journalist and writer of Indian birth,
was denied a visa to visit India in January 1989. The denial was widely
viewed as retaliation for his reporting from Sweden on the Bofors arms
scandal. For many years foreign journalists had been included in the
restrictions on the entry of non-Indian into the seven north-eastern
states.
• The government of V.P.Singh announced its commitment to promoting
freedom of information and appointed a Cabinet committee, consisting
of the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting,
the Minister of Surface Transport, and-the Vice Chairman of the Planning
Commission to study means by which to accomplish this goal. To the
great disappointment of advocates of information freedom, the
committee was dissolved on August 27 1990 without issuing a report or
making any recommendations. The National Front government has
continued the practices of prior governments concerning control of
newsprint.

18. TV Channels Print F.M Radio
Sun TV Yes Yes Yes
Essel Group Yes Yes Yes
India Today Group Yes Yes Yes
Malayala
Manorama Group
Yes Yes Yes
Times Group Yes Yes Yes
• After introducing LPG in 1991 in India,the market was opened for
private companies to invest their money. The Indian media
industry has been experiencing steady growth over the last few
years and the sector has also attracted large foreign investments.
• The table is clearly indicative of prevalence of cross media
ownership in the country. Moreover, large number of entities who
own multiple platforms of media also have a large percentage
of the shares.

19. SECTOR/ACTIVITY % OF FDI CAP/ EQUITY ENTRY ROUTE
Terrestrial Broadcasting
FM (FM Radio), subject to
such terms and conditions,
as specified from time to
time, by Ministry of
Information &
Broadcasting, for grant of
permission for setting up
of FM radio stations
26% Government approval
Up-linking of 'News &
Current Affairs' TV
Channels
26% Government approval
Up-linking of 'Non- News &
Current Affairs' TV
Channels/Down-linking of
TV Channels
100% Government approval
FDI

20. Press Council of India
• The Press Council of India is a statutory body in India that
governs the conduct of the print media.
• The started objectives were "to help newspapers maintain
their independence" and to "raise the standards" through a
code of conduct, maintaining "high professional standards"
and "high standards of public taste".
• It may either warn or censure the errant journalists on
finding them guilty. It did so on 21 July 2006, when it
censured three newspapers — Times of India ,Punjab
Kesari and Mid Day— for violation of norms of journalistic
conduct.
• Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad is Chairman of the
Council.

21. Advantage of RTI
1. To protect and extend media freedom and independence,
and rights of access to information;
2. To actively develop the potential of media to provide
information, a forum for debate on topics of public
interest, cultural expression and opportunity to
communicate, especially to the poor and marginalized.
3. To strengthen the capacity of media to promote and help
build an Information Society – raising awareness,
channeling civil society concerns, debating policies and
holding government, private sector and civil society
accountable.

22. Attacks on Journalists
• According to the 2016 World Press Freedom
Index published by Reporters Without Borders, India ranks
abysmally at 133 out of 180 countries. The rankings are a
reflection of the relative degree of freedom journalists enjoy
in a country. The factors that determine the index are -
pluralism, media independence, environment and self-
censorship, legislative framework, transparency,
infrastructure and abuses.
• 40 Journalists Killed in India since 1992.
• 26 journalists have been killed over the past 12 years in the
northeast region.

23. Whether or whether not?
• “Congress-led UPA regime had banned 21 channels.” Union
Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.
• The BJP led government has ordered that the Hindi channel NDTV
India be shut down for a day .The channel allegedly accused for
showing “crucial information” during Pathankot attacks that could
have been picked by the terrorists’ handlers, compromising not
only national security but also the lives of civilians and defence
personnel.
• The Fake Journalists.
*‘Journalist’ arrested with brown sugar in Dibrugarh.
*TV reporter arrested for Assam molestation
*Journalist Pushp Sharma arrested over 'fake' RTI query

24. Thank You
Good Night