PRESS COUNCIL MUST BE DISBANDED FOR CONSTITUTING A MEDIA COUNCIL

The Press Council of India is a wholly redundant body. It is akin to a crowing hen, which is neither fit for God nor men and becomes a burden on the exchequer. It allows for self-regulation, which is often disregarded rather than adhered to. Section 14 of the Press Council Act stipulates three types of ludicrous punishments. The first is a warning; the second is a reprimand/admonishment, and the third is censure after conducting an inquiry. There is practically no material difference among all three so-called punishments.
Additionally, the Council can require newspapers to publish details of inquiries against them if it deems it necessary for the public interest. However, it cannot investigate matters that are already pending in a court of law, and its decisions cannot be challenged in court. The PCI primarily functions as a moral watchdog, ensuring that the press operates with integrity and accountability. It has no jurisdiction over the electronic or internet media.
When the Press Council was enacted on the recommendations of the first Press Commission, which was headed by Justice GS Rajyadhyaksha, who was then a judge of the Bombay High Court. The First Press Commission of India was appointed in September 1952 and submitted its report in 1954, and in the next year, i.e. 1955, the Working Journalist Act was enacted.
Other Members of the First Press Commission
The other members of the Commission included Dr. C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, a distinguished lawyer, administrator, and politician, who played a significant role in the Madras Presidency and Travancore, serving as the Dewan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947. Acharya Narendra Dev, an eminent academician and a socialist leader, who had also served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University and the Lucknow University. Dr. Zakir Hussain, an academician and later the President of India, Dr VKRV Rao, who was the founder of the Delhi School of Economics and subsequently became a Central Minister, P. H. Patwardhan, a key leader in the Marathwada Liberation Movement, which played a crucial role in the integration of the region into India after independence. Shri Patwardhan also struggled against the Nizam of Hyderabad, which led to its annexation in 1948, Tribhuvan Narayan Singh, a journalist, a veteran freedom fighter, and a well-known politician, later became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Jaipal Singh Munda was an influential Indian politician, a writer, and sportsman, a member of the Constituent Assembly of India who passionately advocated for the rights of tribal communities. He also captained the Indian hockey team to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in 1928. J. Natarajan, known for his work on the history of Indian journalism, was also a member of the first Press Commission. The other two members were A.R. Bhat, an academician and a scientist, and M. Chelapathi Rau, an eminent journalist and the then Editor of the National Herald. The Commission made several significant recommendations that laid the groundwork for the regulation and development of the press in independent India.
Establishment of a Press Council was a crucial recommendation of the First Press Commission
The Commission suggested instituting a statutory Press Council as a quasi-judicial body to safeguard the freedom of the press, maintain and enhance journalistic standards, and formulate a professional code of conduct. The Press Council of India was subsequently established in 1966 based on this recommendation, but unfortunately, it failed to achieve its objectives.
Appointment of a Registrar of Newspapers for India
The Commission recommended the creation of a Registrar of Newspapers to maintain detailed records of newspapers and periodicals, verify circulation claims, and track ownership patterns. The RNI was established in 1956 and has since outlived its utility. Introduction of a Price-Page Schedule, which is now meaningless in the current digital media landscape, was also recommended by it.
Enactment of the Working Journalist Act
The Commission recommended measures to ensure fair wages and better working conditions for journalists, leading to the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Services) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955. Given the unprecedented growth of electronic and internet media, print media has been relegated to an insignificant position. Furthermore, it has now been subsumed in the four labour codes.
Press Council of India Needs to be Disbanded
Therefore, the very establishment of the Press Council of India was meaningless and questionable from the very beginning. However, its worthlessness has now accentuated to an extent that it needs to be disbanded immediately, and a Media Council representative in character and consisting of eminent journalists, jurists, trade unionists, conscientious public figures, and parliamentarians, should be enacted and constituted to serve as the watchdog of the media in the truest sense of the term.
(The writer has served as a member of the Press Council of India for two terms, six years, in the early nineties)

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