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Abstract:- Press is known as the fourth pillar of the government5.Freedom of press is an absolute requisite for
democracy1. It is an educator of the public. It is entitled any democratic country, especially in a welfare state like
to the right of freedom of speech and expression. The India. Media acts for the public at large. It plays a crucial
democracy of a state is nowadays judged by the extent of role by promoting the free flow of information and ideas to
the freedom given to the press of that state. Before the people, which is essential for democracy. A citizen
independence, there was no constitutional provision for cannot be expected personally to gather information from all
its freedom. Now, the preamble of our constitution over the world, so for the effective functioning in a
ensures the liberty of expression to all its citizens. democratic country, freedom must be given to the media so
Freedom of Press is not specifically mentioned in the that it not only informs and mobilises the public opinion but
Constitution of India but it is implied from the article will also bring to light injustices which might have gone
19(1) (a)of the Constitution2. However this right can be unnoticed.
restricted under sub-clause (2) of Article 19 and as such,
the Press has no special privileges in India as freedom of Press and the judiciary are two institutions which
press is same as the freedom of expression of an ordinary complement each other as both of them try to preserve the
citizen3. The Judiciary has played an important role in democratic values. If any conflict occurs between both, then
the matters of Freedom of press. This article critically it should be resolved immediately. Accordingly, freedom of
analyses the concept of freedom of press in India, the judiciary is also important as judges must discharge
judicial trends throughout history, and its importance to justice to the people of a nation. Any interference,
a democratic society. government control or restriction may lead to injustice.
Additionally, the judicial system is the most direct,
Keywords:- Constitution of India, Freedom of Press, Article impactful, and often only interaction citizens have with the
19 (1) (a), liberty of Expression, Democracy, judiciary. law, such as through court cases and arrests that result in
punishment. Therefore, not only is the judiciary critical to
I. INTRODUCTION protect the rights of people, an independent judiciary is a
key to building citizens’ trust and confidence in the legal
In the landmark case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of system of our country. In order to achieve its legal
India4, Hon’ble court emphasized on the freedom of speech objectives, India needs freedom of the judiciary.
and expression and said that if democracy means
government to the people, of the people and by the people, II. JUSTIFICATION OF FREEDOM OF PRESS BY
then it is obvious that every citizen should get the chance to JUDICIARY
participate in the democratic process. There should be free
and general discussion of public matters, then only citizens There has been a hard effort by the legislature as well
will have a right to choose their government. as the judiciary in order to implicit the freedom of press in
the freedom of speech and expression under article 19(1)(a)
On January 16, 1787, Thomas Jefferson, the author of of the constitution. There is a long history of press from the
the United States Declaration of Independence, wrote a times of British rule in the country. Numerous legislations
letter to Edward Carrington stating that if he is given a were passed to regulate the activities of the press. The
choice to decide whether there should be a government Vernacular Press Act6 was passed in order to prevent the
without newspapers or newspapers without government then expression of criticism towards British policies. It gives the
he will choose to have a newspaper without power to the government to impose restrictions on the press.
At the time of Second World War, the executive branch
The ‘Fourth Estate’ is the public media, referred to as a exercised exhaustive power under the Defense of India
collective and encompassing photographers, television Act7and enforced censorship on press. At that time, to
broadcasters, journalists, and radio announcers, among publish the news related to Congress activities was declared
others. as illegal.
Article 19(1)(a) lays down that “All citizens shall have There came a change in the outlook after the
the right to freedom of speech and expression”. commencement of the Constitution in 1950. The old conflict
3
“Nothing in sub clause (a) of clause (i) shall effect the between the state and the press was vanished. The makers of
operation of any existing law or prevent the state from
making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable
restrictions on the exercise of the rights conferred by the Available at
said sub clause in the interest of the security of the state, http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-
friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl52.php.
or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or
incitement to an offence”. 6
The Vernacular Press Act, 1878 (India).
4 77
1978 AIR 597, 1978 SCR (2) 621. The Defence of India Act, 1962 , No. 51 of 1962.
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International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management Research Studies
Volume 1, Issue 1, August - 2018
the Constitution believed that a democratic country requires Express Newspaper v. Union of India12, the apex court
the freedom of expression as well as freedom of press. explained the importance of the freedom of Press in proper
functioning of the democratic process. It was held that the
First Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru one courts have the duty to invalidate all the laws which abridge
said that he would like to have a free press with all the the freedom of press. Freedom of Press includes Freedom of
dangers involved for the wrong usage of the freedom given publication, freedom to circulate and freedom of access to
to them than a defeated and managed press. all sources of information. Justice Bhagwati highlighted the
importance of the freedom of press. He said:
So freedom of press was demanded by the leaders of
the Indian National movement. Therefore, freedom of press
Press is a public educator and makes the formal as well
was given emphasis by the founding fathers while drafting
as non-formal education possible in the large scale.
the constitution after independence. Unfortunately, freedom
The purpose of the press is to publish facts and opinions
of press was not specifically incorporated in the list of
for the public interest so that justice is ensured to all.
fundamental rights in the constitution. When the omission
was criticized by the public, the chief architect of the Indian As newspapers are sources of news and views, they often
constitution, B.R. Ambedkar assured the members that there carry materials which would not be pleasant to
is no need to provide freedom of press specifically in the Government and other authorities.
constitution; rather it is implicitly guaranteed under the A proper guideline for press and judiciary was
freedom of speech and expression. provided in the Supreme Court case of Rajendra Sail v.
Supreme Court of India justified this view. From 1950 Madhya Pradesh High Court Bar Association and others13.
onwards, in a series of decisions, Supreme Court ruled The court held that to have an orderly society, we must have
freedom of press is implicit under Article 19 (1) (a) of the a responsible press and an independent judiciary. They both
constitution. So judiciary gave the constitutional status to should be protected.
the freedom of press. In Ramesh Thappar v. state of Madras14, Supreme
Court of India held that freedom of speech and expression
In C.K. Dapathary vs. O.P. Gupta8, a court held that includes freedom of circulation. “Cross Roads” is a journal
freedom provided to Press is not higher than that of a citizen which was published and printed in Bombay. Government
and so if citizen does not have power to transgress the law of Madras imposed a ban upon the entry and circulation of
then press also does not have this power. That means rights the weekly journal under section 9 (1) (a) of the Madras
of the citizens must not be infringed by the rights of the Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1949. Supreme Court held
Press. the order as invalid as it violates Article 19 (1) (a) of the
constitution.
III. LEGISLATIVE PRIVILEGES
There were various issues and challenges which
To enable the legislatures to freely and without any judiciary had to face in order to protect the freedom of press.
fear discuss and debate the public matters and to effectively These issues are:
perform their functions, without any outside interference or
control, the constitution has conferred special rights on the Fixation of minimum price according to number of
state legislature and parliament. There is a conflict between pages:-
freedom of press guaranteed under article 19 (1) (a) and the
legislative privilege under article 1059 and article 19410. In Sakal Papers v. Union of India15, issues were faced
by the press when government tried to regulate the price of a
In M.S.Sharma v. Sri Krishna Sinha11, Supreme court held newspaper according to the number of pages. The Daily
that under Article 105(3) and 194(3) of the constitution, Newspapers (Price and page) Order, 196016 was passed
legislature has the power to prohibit the publication of which regulated the number of pages according to the price
reports and of the debates and proceedings in the houses and charged and also regulated the space for advertisement in
the houses have the power to impose punishment for breach the newspaper. The publishing company challenged the
of privileges. Thus freedom of speech and expression is order on the grounds that it violated the freedom of speech
subjected to article 105(3) and Article 194(3) of the and expression under Article 19(1) (a) of the constitution.
constitution.
Supreme court held that right to freedom of speech and
IV. JUDICIAL TREND expression includes right to publish and circulate one’s
ideas, and opinions freely subject to the restrictions imposed
The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has performed a
huge role by preserving the freedom of press. In Indian
12
1986 AIR 515, 1985 SCR (2) 287.
8 13
1971 AIR 1132, 1971 SCR 76. AIR 2005 SC 2473.
9 14
INDIA CONST. art. 105 ,cl. 3.. 1950 AIR 124, 1950 SCR 594.
10 15
INDIA CONST. art. 194, cl. 3. 1962 AIR 305, 1962 SCR (3) 842.
11 16
1959 AIR 395, 1959 SCR Supl. (1) 806. The Daily Newspaper (price and page)
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International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management Research Studies
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under clause(2) of Article 19. “Freedom of press is regarded the object of this act is the reformation of the conditions of
as a ‘species’ and freedom of expression is a ‘genus’”17. the workers in the newspaper industry. Press has no
immunity from general laws like industrial laws and hence
Fixation of maximum Pages:- the act is not invalid.
The second issue was raised in Bennet Coleman co. v.
Union of India18, in which the Newsprint Control Order Pre-censorship
1962 fixed the maximum number of pages which a Censorship of the press is not prohibited in the
newspaper could publish. This order was challenged by the constitution. Like other restrictions, it has to be judged as
petitioner in Supreme court as infringing the fundamental per the meaning of Article 19 (2)25. Pre-censorship
Rights guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) of the imposition on the newspaper or journal will amount to
Constitution. The court held that press must be left free to restriction on the freedom of press and it will violate Article
determine the allotment of the newsprint in the newspaper as 19 (1) (a) of the constitution26. If Pre-censorship is imposed
they have the freedom in circulation as well as the content. in the emergency situation like for the prevention of
communal disturbance, then it will be valid.
Tax on Newspaper Industry:-
In India, Press has no special privileges. Freedom of An analysis of judicial trend reveals that the Indian
press is as same as the freedom given to an ordinary citizen judiciary has played a significant role by placing a broad
and so Press is not immune from paying taxes19. interpretation on the value of freedom of press which is
implied under Article 19 (1) (a).
In Indian Express Newspaper v. Union of India20, the
petitioner argued that tax on a newspaper led to an increase V. FREEDOM WITH RESPONSIBILITY
in its cost and so it affects the circulation of newspapers and
periodicals. Hence, it affects the freedom of expression There are three pillars of a democracy. These are
under Article 19 (1) (A) as well as freedom to practice any Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. Legislature makes the
trade under Article 19 (1) (g) of the constitution. The court laws, Executive implements it and the Judiciary interprets it.
held that newspaper does not have any immunity from It is the press which acts as a watchdog over the three
general laws like taxation. So imposition of an import duty pillars, therefore it is known as the Fourth pillar of the
on the newspaper does not violate the freedom of press. democracy. It ensures that all the three pillars perform their
duties in accordance with the constitutional mandate. There
Commercial Advertisement:- have been times when press took advantage of its freedom.
They have collided with the rights of many people,
Advertisement falls under the concept of speech but infringing their right to privacy or right to a fair trial. In
commercial advertisement does not. Hence, it is not view of this, the law commission of India decided to put the
protected under Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution. The duty on media from reporting anything which is infringing
Supreme Court in the landmark case of Hamdard the rights of the people. They stated that as media persons
Dawakhana v. Union of India21, the Drugs and Magic are also citizens of India, they are also bound to fundamental
Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 195422 was duty under Article 51(A) of the constitution of India27. The
challenged on the ground that it put restrictions on the commission even said that due to immense use of television,
advertisement of drugs and so it violates the freedom of the pattern of communication of news is change and they
speech and expression. The court held that commercial have a detrimental effect on the justice system of the
advertisement falls with the purview of Freedom of Business country28:
under Article 19 (1) (g)23 and not under Freedom of
Expression under Article 19 (1) (a). On 3rd May, 2012, Justice Markendy Katju, chairman
of the Press council of India, accused media for promoting
Conditions of services of workmen in Newspaper superstitious and backward ideas. He said that media tries to
Industry:- divert people’s attention from real issues and aims at making
In Express Newspapers Ltd. v. Union of India24, money. Attention from social, economic and political issues
working Journalists (conditions of service and miscellaneous is diverted to non-important issues like astrology, cricket,
provisions) Act, 1955 was challenged. The court held that and personal lives of film stars29. The press has the unique
power to educate the public, and as such has the
17 responsibility to report on matters that are of public interest,
Sakal Newspaper v. Union of India, AIR 1962 SC 305.:
such as politics, injustices, and social issues.
(1962) 3 SCR 842.
18
1973 AIR 106, 1973 SCR (2) 757.
19
DR. S.R. Myneni, Media Law[ with Right to Information]
25
act 2014. INDIA CONST.art.19, cl.2.
20 26
1986 AIR 515, 1985 SCR (2) 287. INDIA CONST.art.19, cl.1.
21 27
1960 AIR 554, 1960 SCR (2) 671. INDIA CONST.art. 51, cl.A.
22 28
The Drugs and Magic Remedies (objectionable Law Commission of India recommendations, 200th Report,
Advertisements) Act, 1954. NO.21 OF 1954. Trial by Media.
23 29
INDIA CONST.art.19.cl.1.g. Available at
24
1986 AIR 872, 19895 SCR Supl. (3) 382. Https://www.outlookindia.com/ 280794
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International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management Research Studies
Volume 1, Issue 1, August - 2018
VI. CONCLUSION:
VII. SUGGESTIONS
REFERENCES
[1]. http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1847/Freedo
m-of-Press---Article-19(1)(a).html.
[2]. http://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1is
sue8/PartD/1-7-160.pdf.
[3]. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/17376
2/9/09_chapter%202.pdf.
[4]. https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/freedom-press-
pillar-democracy/.
[5]. https://lawschoolnotes.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/freed
om-of-press-under-article-19-1-a-of-the-constitution/.
30
Preamble: The constitution of India [India], 26 January
1950.
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