HISTORY OF MEDIA LAWS IN INDIA

Media Laws in India

The history of media law could be traced to the British rule in India.

Most of the law framed during that time was obviously to control the press as press was used as a powerful medium by the freedom fighters and also the print media of those days voluntarily took part in the freedom struggle.

Press Regulations (1799) :One of the earliest law was Press Regulations introduced by Lord Wellesley which imposed pre-censorship in press

Licensing of the press(1823): In 1823, an ordinance introducing licensing of the press was issued. This required a previous license from the Governor-General for all matters being printed, other than those commercial in nature.

The Press Act of 1835 neutralized the regulations passed in 1799 and 1823.

The Gagging Act(1857): The government passed the Gagging Act which among various other things, introduced compulsory licensing for the owning or running of printing presses.

This act empowered the government to prohibit the publication or circulation of any newspaper, book or other printed material and banned the publication or dissemination of statements or news stories which had a tendency to cause a problems against the government, thereby weakening its authority.

The Indian Penal Code(1860):Even though it was for all sorts of offences, the offences specific to press like defamation and obscenity were also included in the IPC.

Vernacular Press Act(1878): Governor General Lord Lytton promulgated the Vernacular Press Act of 1878.This Act was specifically directed against the newspapers in Indian languages. The Act allowed the government to clamp down on the publication of writings, deemed seditious and to impose punitive sanctions on printers and publishers who failed to fall in line.

Media Laws in India

Media Laws in India

The Criminal Procedure Code, enacted in 1898—a code for the procedure in criminal matters—included certain procedures related to press too. Its provisions authorized the government to search and forfeit publications considered to be offensive in nature.

In 1908, Lord Minto promulgated the Newspapers(Incitement to Offences) Act, 1908 which authorized local authorities to take action against the editor of any newspaper that published matter deemed to constitute an incitement to murder or any other act of violence or an offence under the Explosive Substances Act.

While most of the media law enacted by the British is not being practiced today, a few Acts like Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (a law to regulate printing presses and newspapers through registration) and Official Secrets Act, 1923 are still in force.

Laws after freedom After independence, when the Constitution of India came to force on

26th January 1950, constitutionally 'freedom of press' was granted under the broad spectrum of 'freedom of expression' in Article 19 1(a).

Since then media law in India is mostly self regulatory in nature rather than harsh and severe laws, though there were attempts being made to curb or restrict the freedom from time to time.

In 1951, The Press (Objectionable Matter) Act, 1951 was passed. A temporary Act whose objective was to 'provide against the printing and publication of incitement to crime and other objectionable matter'. It was repealed in 1957.

The Newspaper (Price and Page) Act, 1956 was meant to regulate the price of newspapers in relation to the number of pages and size and also to regulate the allocation of space to be allowed for advertising matter. It was struck down by the Supreme Court in the case of Sakal Papers vs. Union of India in 1962 as unconstitutional.

Other Major Acts

Other Major Acts

Copyright Act, 1957: This is an Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to copyright.

Defence of India Act, 1962: This Act came into effect during the proclamation of emergency in 1962. The Act empowered the Central Government to make rules with regard to prohibition of publications or communications prejudicial to the civil defence or military operations, the prevention of prejudicial reports and the prohibition of printing or publishing any prejudicial matter in any newspaper.

Civil Defence Act, 1968: This Act empowered the central government to make rules similar to those mentioned in Defence of India Act, 1962. It authorized the Government to make rules for the prohibition of printing and publication of any book, newspaper or other document containing matters prejudicial to the civil defence.

Other Major Acts

Contempt of Courts Act, 1971: This is an Act to define and limit the powers of certain courts in passing the orders related to the contempt of courts and to regulate such procedure.

Press Council Act 1978: This is an Act to establish a Press Council for the purpose of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India.

The Cinematograph Act 1952: was the major Act which was passed to make provision for the certification of films before its exhibition and for regulating exhibitions by means of cinematographs.

Other Major Acts

Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954:This Act was passed to control the advertisement of drugs in certain cases, to prohibit the advertisement for certain purposes of remedies alleged to possess magic qualities and to provide for matters connected therewith.

Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969: An Act which was passed to ensure that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of economic power to the common detriment. It is responsible for the control of monopolies, for the prohibition of monopolistic and restrictive trade practices and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. This Act lists the unfair trade practices which also include advertise ments.

Other Major Acts

In the beginning, the regulation of broadcasting in India was based on the Indian Telegraph Act 1885. The Indian Telegraphic Act, 1885 was an Act to amend the law relating to Telegraphs in India.

"Telegraph" meant any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or capable of use for transmission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images, and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic emissions, radio waves or Hertzian waves, galvanic, electric or magnetic means.

The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990 was passed to provide for the establishment of a Broadcasting Corporation for India, to be known as Prasar Bharati.

Other Major Acts

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 was passed to regulate the operation of cable television networks in the country.

The draft of the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill was brought out in 2006. It had been formulated to regulate the broadcast services in India and needs to get the approval of the Parliament.