Suraj Prakash vs Union Of India And Ors. on 15 November, 1990
Showing the contexts in which working journalist act doctypes: delhi appears in the document
Change context size
Current
(11) The Council has been established under the Act for the purpose of preserving the freedom of the Press and for maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. Section 5 provides for composition of the Council to consist of a Chairman and 28 other members. The Chairman as well as the other members are nominated in accordance with the member and method stipulated in the said Section. For the achievement of the objects of the Act, provision has been made for a broad-based membership of the Council to represent various categories of the interested sections of society directly concerned therewith. The categories, the number of persons to be nominated from each category, and the manner and method of nomination of various members have also been prescribed in Section 5 of the Act. In order to avoid nomination of more than one person interested in any newspaper or group of newspapers under the same control of management, the second proviso restricts nomination of only one such person from among the working journalists. The procedure for making nomination of members from some of the categories! has been prescribed
journalism; to promote a proper functional relationship among all classes of persons engaged in the production or publication of newspapers or news agencies. Section 14 of the Act lays down the procedure to be followed by the Council on receipt of a complaint made to it or otherwise that a newspaper or news agency has offended against the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste, or that an editor or a working journalist has committed any professional misconduct. It empowers the Council to warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, news agency, editor or thejournalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist, as the case may be. By virtue of Section 15, for the purposes of performing its functions or holding any enquiry under theAct, the Council has, been given the same powers as are vested in a civil court in respect of specified matters.
(16) In order to deal with the rival contentions, it would be appropriate first to determine the question : who is the nominating authority in respect of members of the category referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 5 of the Act. For this purpose, it would be helpful to trace the history of the relevant statutory provisions. The Press Council Act, 1965 (hereinafter referred to as the 1965 Act), envisaged composition of the Council similar to that provided at present. Under that Act, the Chairman was nominated by the Chief Justice of India. The other members were chosen and nominated by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the Chairman of the Council and a person to be appointed by the President of India. By the Press Council (Amendment) Act, 1970 (hereinafter referred lo" as the 1970 Amendment), this arrangement was altered. Instead of nomination of the Chairman by the Chief Justice,of India, provision was made for a Nominating Committee consisting of the Chairman of the Council of States, the Chief Justice of India and the Speaker of the House of the People
Chairman has to be nominated by a Committee consisting of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a person elected by the members of the Council under sub-section (6) of Section 5 of the Act. But, the system of the Nominating Committee choosing the other members has been done away with. According to counsel for the petitioners, for the purpose of nominating the other members, the Chairman used to be one of the members of the Nominating Committee under the 1965 Act; he was dropped from the Committee by the 1970 Amendment; and now the whole system has been changed. Instead, Section 5 of the Act stipulates that nomination of persons of the categories referred to in clause (a), clause (b) and clause (c) shall be made in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed; and that the procedure prescribed under rule 3 and rule 4 works out automatically, leaving no room for the Chairman to play any role in this regard- In this background, he has urged, on the basis of sub-section (5) of Section 5 of theAct, that the nomination of other members takes effect from the date
journalism; to promote a proper functional relationship among all classes of persons engaged in the production or publication of newspapers or news agencies. Section 14 of the Act lays down the procedure to be followed by the Council on receipt of a complaint made to it or otherwise that a newspaper or news agency has offended against the standards of journalistic ethics or public taste, or that an editor or a working journalist has committed any professional misconduct. It empowers the Council to warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, news agency, editor or thejournalist or disapprove the conduct of the editor or the journalist, as the case may be. By virtue of Section 15, for the purposes of performing its functions or holding any enquiry under theAct, the Council has, been given the same powers as are vested in a civil court in respect of specified matters.
(16) In order to deal with the rival contentions, it would be appropriate first to determine the question : who is the nominating authority in respect of members of the category referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 5 of the Act. For this purpose, it would be helpful to trace the history of the relevant statutory provisions. The Press Council Act, 1965 (hereinafter referred to as the 1965 Act), envisaged composition of the Council similar to that provided at present. Under that Act, the Chairman was nominated by the Chief Justice of India. The other members were chosen and nominated by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the Chairman of the Council and a person to be appointed by the President of India. By the Press Council (Amendment) Act, 1970 (hereinafter referred lo" as the 1970 Amendment), this arrangement was altered. Instead of nomination of the Chairman by the Chief Justice,of India, provision was made for a Nominating Committee consisting of the Chairman of the Council of States, the Chief Justice of India and the Speaker of the House of the People
Chairman has to be nominated by a Committee consisting of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a person elected by the members of the Council under sub-section (6) of Section 5 of the Act. But, the system of the Nominating Committee choosing the other members has been done away with. According to counsel for the petitioners, for the purpose of nominating the other members, the Chairman used to be one of the members of the Nominating Committee under the 1965 Act; he was dropped from the Committee by the 1970 Amendment; and now the whole system has been changed. Instead, Section 5 of the Act stipulates that nomination of persons of the categories referred to in clause (a), clause (b) and clause (c) shall be made in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed; and that the procedure prescribed under rule 3 and rule 4 works out automatically, leaving no room for the Chairman to play any role in this regard- In this background, he has urged, on the basis of sub-section (5) of Section 5 of theAct, that the nomination of other members takes effect from the date
No comments:
Post a Comment