Editors Guild seeks review of new criminal laws, says could be used against journalists
New Delhi (PTI): The Editors Guild of India has sought a review of the new criminal justice laws that were implemented this month, contending that their provisions could potentially be used against journalists.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the guild has said over the years and under successive governments, many provisions under criminal laws, the "so-called" offensive-speech laws in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) -- sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 502 and 505 -- have been liberally used to file FIRs against journalists whose reporting has been critical of the establishment.
"This has been done by governments across states and party lines," the guild has said in its letter to Shah dated July 29.
The guild has suggested an additional level of review before a criminal complaint is registered against a journalist.
"It is our strong belief that there is a need for a deep consultation and formulation of some set of guidelines for regulating prosecutions against members of the press/media for actions in the course of their duty," it has said.
The guild has said a complaint against a journalist should be reviewed by a high-ranking police officer and the same may be brought to the notice of the Press Council of India for its views.
It has also said the newly-notified criminal laws further expand the powers of the law-enforcement agencies, which is a cause of greater concern.
"Now, with the notification of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 respectively, we feel there is even greater cause of concern," the guild has said in its letter to the home minister.
It has pointed out that between 2019 and 2023, a slew of legislation has been passed by Parliament, dramatically expanding the reach of criminal laws by way of amendments to existing laws or by introducing new statutes outright.
"The reason we are specifically raising these is because we fear all these provisions can be potentially used against journalists, as has been the case in the past under IPC as well as CrPC," the guild has said.
It has requested for a thorough review of the criminal laws from this perspective and offered itself for substantive consultation on the issue.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
