National Colloquium on

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND LEGISLATIVE PRIVILEGE

In recent times, there has been active discussion on a number of issues and concerns relating to the Indian news media; chief among them, the growing tension and antagonism among the media, the executive/legislature, and the judiciary. The attempts to restrict press freedom surfaced with renewed force with the issue of warrants for the arrest of five senior journalists of The Hindu and the editor of the Tamil publication Murasoli for breach of legislative privilege.

The Indian Newspaper Society and the Media Development Foundation supported by the Madras Union of Journalists conducted a national colloquium attended by eminent jurists, veteran journalists, and academics to discuss two braod themes: Unreasonable restrictions on media by use of legislative privilege; the need for codifying privilege and the need for explicit language in the Constitution guaranteeing the freedom of the press.

Participants pointed out that the attempt to censor repoting of Assembly proceedings made little sense in the time of live television coverage of legislative debates. Similarly, veteran journalists argued that subsuming press freedom under the Article 19 protection guaranteeing freedom of expression did not take into account the special status of the press as a watchdog of democracy and the imperative of protecting sources.