High court declines relief in PIL on citizenship of editor
19 Dec 2013 5:24 AM IST
‘The issue is under consideration and pending before Parliament and court will not interfere into it,’ a bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and VK Rao observed and rejected a plea filed by former Union minister Subramanian Swamy. He sought a direction to centre to rectify the lacuna in the Press and Registration of Books Act regarding the definition of ‘editor’.
‘It may be true that even the legislature has so opined evidenced by the fact that the Press and Registration of Books and Publication Bill, 2011 which has been cleared by the select committee and is pending before Parliament, has suggested amendment to the Act by defining editor to mean a person who is not only an ordinary resident in India but is also a citizen of India.
‘But it is for the legislature to consider the bill at the floor of the House and not for the court to legislate. Hoping that Parliament would find some time to consider the Press and Registration of Books and Publication Bill, 2011 which is pending consideration, we dismiss the writ petition declining relief as prayed for,’ the court said.
‘It may be true that in today’s context, media have become much more powerful due to their reach and the evolving concept of what is called paid news. As literacy increases the media becomes powerful and influences the political and social thinking,’ the bench observed.
The petitioner had argued that the foreign direct investment policy of the government, in the domain of publications, allows 74 per cent foreign direct investment with the pre-condition that in the print media at least three-fourth of the board of a print media firm must be Indians and all key editorial posts must also lie with resident Indians.
Swamy had in his petition raised the issue of Siddarth Varadarajan, a US passport holder, being the editor of The Hindu. The court noted that Varadarajan has already resigned from the daily.
‘It may be true that even the legislature has so opined evidenced by the fact that the Press and Registration of Books and Publication Bill, 2011 which has been cleared by the select committee and is pending before Parliament, has suggested amendment to the Act by defining editor to mean a person who is not only an ordinary resident in India but is also a citizen of India.
‘But it is for the legislature to consider the bill at the floor of the House and not for the court to legislate. Hoping that Parliament would find some time to consider the Press and Registration of Books and Publication Bill, 2011 which is pending consideration, we dismiss the writ petition declining relief as prayed for,’ the court said.
‘It may be true that in today’s context, media have become much more powerful due to their reach and the evolving concept of what is called paid news. As literacy increases the media becomes powerful and influences the political and social thinking,’ the bench observed.
The petitioner had argued that the foreign direct investment policy of the government, in the domain of publications, allows 74 per cent foreign direct investment with the pre-condition that in the print media at least three-fourth of the board of a print media firm must be Indians and all key editorial posts must also lie with resident Indians.
Swamy had in his petition raised the issue of Siddarth Varadarajan, a US passport holder, being the editor of The Hindu. The court noted that Varadarajan has already resigned from the daily.
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