Katju Has Put Life Back Into PCI
By Harihar Swarup
Whatever critics of Justice Markandey Katju may say, the fact remains that he has put some life in the virtually dead Press Council of India. The PCI had lost whatever moral authority it had and offending newspapers and TV channels had started ignoring it. They had started throwing the council’s summons in wastebasket and not appearing before the enquiry committees formed by the PCI. Some of the newspaper owners have had gumption to tell PCI members, even its Chairman, on their face that they had no authority and couldn’t do anything against the offending newspapers. Justice Katju by his sheer sharp tongue has put some awe in the offenders and now they think twice before ignoring the Council’s summons.
As a member of the PCI in early nineties, I have seen better times. Justice Sarkaria, who penned landmark report on centre-state relations, was the Chairman then and writ of the Council ran. No offending newspaper could dare ignore the summons of the PCI. They appeared before the enquiry committees and were examined by us. If they were censured, they have to publish the PCI’s verdict and promise not to repeat the offence again. The PCI took serious view of communal writings and attempt of a newspaper to whip up tension by its writing.
Still the PCI did not have teeth and maximum it could do was to censure a newspaper and that was not enough deterrent to jurnos to desist from objectionable writings. Some of us, therefore, decided to approach the government to give more powers to the PCI like recommending stoppage of advertisements to an offending newspaper. Majority of members agreed that it was not possible to give penal powers to the PCI as that fall in the jurisdiction of courts. But it was broadly agreed the PCI should be given, by amending the law, the jurisdiction to impose small sanctions like recommending withdrawals of advertisements for some time, cancelling accreditation of offending journalists and such punitive powers.
Some enthusiasts, self-appointed champions of press freedom, insisted that the PCI should exercise only moral authority on newspapers and should not be entrusted with any punitive powers. The government of the day was keen to give PCI more power and asked the then Council to debate the matter and forward its recommendations to the concerned ministry so that they may act. Evidently, the government did not want to act on its own lest it was construed that the establishment wanted to muzzle the Press.
Justice Sarkaria was a very cautious Press Council Chairman and a meek one; he did not want to create any controversy like present incumbent Justice Katju, who thrives on controversies. His view was that the PCI should have only moral authority and did not agree with the majority view that the Council should, at least, be entrusted with power to recommend stoppage of advertisement for a specified period and cancellation of accreditation of offending jurnos. Under his guidance the PCI drafted an innocuous reply to the government which meant that the present practice was enough.
Everyone knows that moral authority means nothing. The PCI is not Mahatma Gandhi who can enforce its moral authority. The deterioration in the PCI started since then as nobody listened to its moral authority and it has become more or less irrelevant.
See what Justice J S, Verma, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court, has to say; “Everyone knows the Press Council has failed in its mandate, and how ineffective it has been. So why not wind it up or scrap it?” “PCI is run on public money, so why not save some money?”
On the other hand, justice Katju has sought a larger mandate for the PCI and suggested bringing the electronic media under its purview. He wants that the electronic media be brought under Press Council and it should be given some teeth to deal with electronic or print media. Bin bhay hot na preet, (there is no action without fear), he said quoting Goswami Tulsidas as saying in epic Ramcharitmanas.
While the media must enjoy the freedom to report but, at the same time, it should restrain itself from losing accountability. As the Chairman of PCI, Justice Katju supports the reasonable regulation on media, but not the control of media . It is also the job of the PCI to protect journalists from physical assault while discharging their professional duty. Crying a halt to curbing press freedom or gagging media is also the responsibility of the Press Council.
Justice Katju is playing important role in safeguarding freedom of the press. He effectively intervened when Senior journalist Iftikhar Gilani, the bureau chief of a national daily newspaper, was put under house arrest following hanging of Afzal Guru.
The Press Council of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained. However, it is also empowered to hold hearings on receipt of complaints and take suitable action where appropriate.
If the Press is to function effectively as the watchdog of public interest, it must have a secure freedom of expression, unfettered and unhindered by any authority, organised bodies or individuals. But, this claim to press freedom has legitimacy only if it is exercised with a due sense of responsibility. The Press must, therefore, scrupulously adhere to accepted norms of journalistic ethics and maintain high standards of professional conduct. (IPA Service)