Media has become a powerful democratic tool in the modern era. Media is considered to be the fourth pillar of a democratic set-up. Media is a social instrument which could be placed to much productive and useful work, if put in right hands. In a democratic set-up like India, Media plays an important role in balancing the interests of public and exercising its powers. Media derives its rights and powers from the Constitution of India. Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression to press. Media has been a boon to the society but it also has its darker side which has been seen in the recent past. The most controversial issues which have cropped up recently are paid news, transgression of right to privacy and such others. Therefore, there is a need to regulate the media, by the Government, before such menace goes beyond control. There is a need felt to establish a media council which would have sufficient powers to keep a check on media as well as authorities for an active and flourishing democracy.
The Media Council Bill has been drafted keeping in mind the growing menace and the need to curb it by establishing a Media Council and providing stringent measures to regulate the print media. The Media Council bill is a short bill consisting of about 13 sections in total.
Highlights of the Bill :-
Section 2 provides for the general definitions, which specifically includes the definition of "electronic media" to mean "any contents shown or telecast in a news channel, including working journalist, editors and management."
Section 3 provides for the establishment of a Media Council notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette being a corporate body and having its head office at New Delhi.
Section 4 provides for the Composition of the Council. The Council shall consist of a Chairperson and 30 other members. The Chairperson shall be appointed by a committee consisting of Vice President, Speaker of Lok Sabha and persons elected by the members of Rajya Sabha in the prescribed. Among the 30 members. However, there is no rationale or justification behind prescribing such large number of members in the Committee especially when the scope and ambit of the functioning of the Council is very narrow. Also, there is no proper justification behind laying down the procedure for nomination and qualification of members in such a manner.
Section 5 provides for the salary and allowances and other terms of service of the Chairperson, members and other employees of the Media Council.
Section 6 provides for the powers and functions of the Council. It provides for the duty of the Council to frame a code of conduct for newspapers, news agencies, working journalists, electronic media and news channels in accordance with the high professional standards and maintaining standards of journalistic ethics or public taste and fostering a due sense of both rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The authorities are to abide by such code of conduct and in case of any non compliance the Council shall suo motu take action in respect of such matters. This provision seems to be impulsive as there is no guarantee that action will be taken in such events and that such events will not be swept under the rug.
It also provides that the decision of the Council shall be final and binding on newspapers, news agency, editor or journalist of both the print and electronic media. This provision curtails the power of judicial review of High Courts and Supreme Court provided under Article 226 and 32 of the Constitution of India respectively. It is not a feasible provision and thus needs more transparency.
Section 7 provides for the procedure for complaint and inquiry. It lays down that any person can file a complaint to the Council in respect of any publication or non-publication of any matter in any newspaper or telecast or non telecast of any matter in electronic media with a proviso that the Council may not take cognizance of complaint, if in the opinion of Chairman the complaints lacks sufficient grounds for holding an inquiry. This provision vests an arbitrary power on the Chairman as no criteria has been laid down for deciding the "sufficient grounds."
Section 8 provides for power to censure to the Council. The provision provides that the Council, if has a reason to believe that a newspaper or agency or news channels or editors have offended against the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste or that an editor or a working journalist has committed any professional misconduct, the Council, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard, warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, the news agency, the channel, the editor or the journalist or disapprove the conduct of editor or journalist.
The Council may require any newspaper to publish any particulars relating to any inquiry under section 7 against a newspaper or news agency, an editor or a journalist working therein, including the name of such newspaper, news agency, news channel, editor or journalist. The Compliance of such directions is made mandatory on newspapers, news agency and channel.
It further provides that on the award of two censures under this section, the Council may censure the newspaper, channel or journalist concerned or direct the authorities of the State to suspend or stop release of advertisement to it till the adjudication is published or period specified by the Council. Moreover, if there are instances of non compliance of any directions under this section within a period of one year then it will invite penalty of suspension of registration of newspaper or news agencies or channels for a period not exceeding 15 days. The decision of the Council has been made final and binding and cannot be questioned in any court of law.
This provision gives arbitrary and unfettered powers to the Council. Such provision would include the whims and fancies of the Council irrespective of whatever findings are recorded in the inquiry. The decisions taken by the Council must be subject to appeal in court of law in order to avoid exercise of arbitrariness by the Council. The rest are the miscellaneous sections which are more or less corresponding to the design contained in other acts.
Thus, in a nut shell, it can be stated that the most crucial facet of balancing the rights by ensuring protection to the fundamental rights of media guaranteed under the Constitution of India and restricting their authority and functioning has lost sight and the establishment of a single tier mechanism would thereby display herculean exertions with each and every functions assigned under this bill.
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