Constitutional provisions on Freedom of Press

Freedom of expression and the press lies at the foundation of all democratic organisations, and the press has a
special role to play in providing a forum for free political discussions for the proper functioning of the processes
of a popular government. In order to preserve the democratic way of life which is envisaged under the Indian
Constitution, it is essential that people should have the freedom to express their feelings and have the
opportunity to make their views known and disseminated to the people at large. The widest possible
dissemination and circulation of information from diverse sources is essential to the welfare of the people. The
right to utter honest and reasonable criticism on matters of public concern is a source of strength to the
community, and the press being a powerful media of mass communication should be free to play its role in the
process of building a strong viable society in India. Denial of the right to freedom of the press to citizens would
necessarily undermine the power to influence public opinion and would run counter to the principles of
democracy itself.

Right to freedom of the press is not specifically mentioned in article 19(l) (a) of the Constitution, and what is
mentioned there is only freedom of speech and expression. It may be argued that freedom of speech and
expression may relate to utterances in writing or in printing or manifestation or representation of feelings,
intention of thoughts in writings by an individual, and in that sense, freedom of speech and expression may not
include freedom of the press, which is essentially freedom of publication and freedom of circulation of the
matter so published. However, a reference to the Constituent Assembly Debates would dispel such an argument.

It was made clear by Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, that no special mention of the freedom
of the press was necessary at all as the press and an individual or a citizen were the same so far as their right of
expression was concerned. The Constitution of the United States provides specifically for the guarantee of
freedom of the press and gives recognition of the subject-matters of the press as an organ of publicity and media
of mass communication. But the framers of the Indian Constitution were content to treat the freedom of the
press as an essential part of the freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed in article 19 (l)(a) of the
Constitution. In this respect the Indian Constitution followed the law of England where it is recognised that the
law of the press was merely a part of the law of libel. In Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras, and Brij Bhushan
v. State of Delhi, the Supreme Court took it for granted that the freedom of the press was an essential part of the
right to freedom of speech and expression.

Restrictions on Freedom of Press in India

The right to freedom of the press guarantees the right to propagate ideas and views and to publish and circulate
them so as to reach any class and number of readers, and thus includes the volume of circulation. This freedom
is not confined to the propagation of one's own views but extends to the publication and circulation of other's
views also. As already stated it is necessary to maintain and preserve press in a democracy. But at the same time
it is also necessary to place some restrictions on this freedom for the maintenance of social order, because no
freedom can be absolute or completely unrestricted.

The right to freedom of speech and expression is not absolute and its exercise is subject to the limits premissible
under clause 2 of article 19 of the Constitution; these limits apply equally to freedom of the press. Parliament or
state legislatures may validly pass a law which places restrictions on the right to freedom of speech and
expression provided such restrictions are related to one or more of the purposes mentioned in clause (2) of
article 19. These restrictions have to be reasonable, and the 'reasonableness' is justiciable. Accordingly, under
Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India, the State may make a law imposing reasonable restrictions on the
exercise of the right to freedom of press in the interest of the public on the following grounds:

1. Sovereignty & Integrity of India

2. Security of the State

3. Friendly relations with Foreign States

4. Public Order

5. Decency or Morality

6. Contempt of Court
7. Defamation

8. Incitement to an Offence

The grounds mentioned above reveal that they are all concerned with either the national interest or in the interest
of the society. The first set of grounds, namely, the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State,
friendly relations with foreign States and public order are all grounds referable to national interest. Whereas the
second set of grounds, namely, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence
are all concerned with the interest of the society. However, it is the constitutional obligation of the judiciary to
ensure that the restrictions imposed by a law on the media are reasonable and relate to the purposes specified in
Article 19(2). Because reasonable restrictions contemplated under the Indian Constitution brings the matter in
the domain of the court as the question of reasonableness is a question primarily for the Court to decide.

Censorship

There is no provision in the Indian Constitution permitting or proscribing censorship. The sting of censorship
lies in prior restraint which affects the heart and soul of the freedom of press. Expression is snuffed out before
its birth. Suppression by a stroke of the pen is more likely to be applied by the censoring authorities than by
suppression through a criminal process, and thus there is far less scope for public appraisal and discussion of the
matter. This is the real vice of the prior censor.
Freedom of Press vs. Social Responsibility

The press is not just the fourth pillar but also the backbone of any democratic society. Because the fact is that
the legislature makes the laws, the executive implements it and the judiciary interprets it. But it is the press
which acts as the watchdog of the three pillars, in order to ensure that they are performing their duties in
accordance with the constitutional requirements. Though, the press has played significant roles for public
welfare but at times it act irresponsibly. In recent times there have been incidents where the press has taken
advantage of its role – may be fake sting operations or paid news especially during elections. There has been
increasing concern about extremely aggressive journalism, including stories about people's sexual lives and
photographs of people when they were in a private setting. Also sometimes freedom of press collides with other
rights, such as right to a fair trial or right to privacy. Though the press is independent and has its functional
autonomy, yet it is required to fulfill the constitutional objectives enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution
of India, namely, to secure to all its citizens ‘Justice’ in its full comprehensive sense, including social,
economic, and political.

In a democracy, the government cannot function effectively unless the citizens are well informed and free to
participate in public issues by having the widest choice of alternative solutions of the problems that arise. So the
fact remains that the press plays an important role in the development and stability of modern society, but at the
same time the need of the hour is to impose a commitment of social responsibility on press. In other words, the
press has a constitutional duty to consider the overall needs of society when making journalistic decisions in
order to produce the greatest good. Facts must be reported accurately and in a meaningful manner.
Responsibility, instead of freedom, should be the motto. Such thinking leads to the advocacy of a regulatory
mechanism designed to keep the press "socially responsible. "The following suggestions are offered in this
connection:

 Freedom of press may be inserted as a specific fundamental right in the Constitution of India.
 The law must strengthen the conditions of freedom of press; protect the right to communicate and the
right to information. The press cannot perform their role unless the law gives them enough power to do
so.
 Freedom of press must, however, be exercised with circumspection and care must be taken not to
trench on the rights of other citizens or to jeopardise public interest.

CONTEMPT OF COURT ACT

Any activity that hinders or impairs the judicial proceedings and interferes in the
administration of justice constitutes Contempt of Court. Such act or conduct is dealt with
under the Contempt of Court Act, 1971. In order to keep faith of the public in the law and
order machinery of the State, the Contempt of Court Act has been passed by the legislature. If
any act of a person undermines the confidence of the society in the justice delivery system of
the country, then action has to be taken against him. A person who does an act which affects
the judicial system of the country or is likely to effect the judicial system should be aware
that he can be held liable for Contempt of Court under the Act. The effect of the legislation is
to protect the law enforcement machinery from false allegations and accusations. Thus, the
Contempt of Court Act, 1971 makes Contempt of Court a punishable act. Section 2(a) of the
Contempt of Court Act states that contempt can be of two types: civil or criminal. Under
Section 2(b) of the Act, civil contempt has been defined as wilful disobedience to any
judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or wilful breach of an
undertaking given to a court.
Under Section 2(c), criminal contempt has been defined as the publication (whether by
words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise) of any
matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which:
 Scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any
court, or
 Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial
proceeding, or
 Interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the
administration of justice in any other manner.
What is contempt of Court
According to this Act, a person is said to be offender of contempt of courts under following
circumstances:

 Charging the judge with unreasonably and inability

 Expressing doubts on the prestige, status, rights or fairness of the judiciary
 Publication of any comment on the matters which are under the proceedings of the
court and which may mislead the general public and which lead them to be prejudiced
 To cast aspersion or to attempt in influence or the judge, jury, advocates or witness of
any matters which are under the proceeding of the court
 To interfere in the judicial administration
 To threat the witnesses
 To attempt to obstruct the police inquiry
 Against the order of the judge, publication of the proceedings of the court or the
publications of the picture of the accused
 Publications of the report of the proceedings of the court and distorting the facts
 10.Wrongful publication of the proceeding of the courts and distorting the facts.

What is not contempt of Court

According to this Act, a person is said not to be offender of contempt of courts on the
following grounds:
 Innocent publication and distribution of matter not contempt –A person shall not be guilty of
contempt of court if at the time he had no reasonable grounds for believing that the
proceeding was pending.
Fair and accurate report of judicial proceeding not contempt – a person shall not be guilty of
contempt of court for publishing a fair and accurate report of a judicial proceeding or any
state thereof.
Fair criticism of judicial act not contempt – A person shall not be guilty of contempt of court
for publishing any fair comment on the merits of any case which has been heard and finally
decided. Judgments are open to criticism that must be done without casting aspersions on the
judges and the courts and without adverse comments amounting to scandalising the courts.
Complaint against presiding officers of subordinate courts when not contempt- A person
shall not be guilty of contempt of court in respect of any statement made by him in good faith
concerning the presiding officer or any subordinate court. subordinate court” means any court
subordinate to a High court. Immunity is provided to a citizen making a complaint to the
High Court against a Presiding Officer of a subordinate court so long as the complaint is
made in good faith.
Publication of information relating to proceeding in chambers or in camera not contempt
except in certain cases- a person shall not be guilty of contempt of court for publishing a fair
and accurate report of a judicial proceedings before any court sitting in chambers or in
camera. There may be certain exceptions. 

Punishment for the contempt of court

High Court and Supreme Court are bestowed with the power to punish for the contempt of
the court. Under Section 12 of Contempt of Court Act, 1971, a contempt of court can be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine
which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both. However, in civil cases if the court
considers that a fine will not meet the ends of justice and that a sentence of imprisonment is
necessary shall, instead of sentencing him to simple imprisonment, direct that the he be
detained in a civil prison for such period not exceeding six months as it may think fit.
The court is not supposed to impose a sentence for contempt of court in excess of what is
prescribed under this section either in respect of itself or of a court subordinate to it.
An accused may be discharged or the punishment awarded may be remitted on apology being
made by the accused to the satisfaction of the court. An apology is not supposed to be
rejected merely on the ground that it is qualified or conditional if the accused makes it bona
fide.

LAW OF DEFAMATION
Defamation simply means tarnishing somebody’s image. It is an injury to a man’s reputation. It
means speaking or writing something damaging or diminishing the status or personality or prestige
of a person or an organization. There are two types of defamation:

Libel- it is a written form of defamation

Slander- it is a spoken form of defamation Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code defines defamation
as ‘Whoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible,
representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or
having reason to believe that such imputation will harm the reputation of such person, is said except
in cases here in after expected, to defame that person.’

There are four explanations and 10 exceptions of section 499. The four explanations are:

‘It may amount to defamation’

1. To impute anything to a deceased person. If the imputation would harm the reputation of that
person if living and is intended to be harmful to the feelings of his family or other near relatives;

2. To make an imputation concerning a company or an association or collection of persons as such;

3. To make an imputation in the form of an alternative or expressed ironically

4. But no imputation is said to harm a person’s reputation unless that imputation directly or
indirectly in the estimation of others lowers the moral or intellectual character of that person or
lowers that character of that person in respect of his caste or his calling, or lowers the credit of that
person or causes it to be believed that the body of that person is in a loathsome state or in a state
generally consider as disgraceful’

The ten exceptions are:

First Exception: it is not defamation to impute anything which is true concerning any person, if it for
the public good that the imputation should be made or published. Whether or not, it is for the public
good is a question of fact.

Second Exception: it is not defamation to express in good faith any option whatever respecting the
conduct of a public servant in the discharge of this public functions, or respecting his character, so
far as his character appears in that conduct and no further.

Third Exception: it is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion whatever respecting the
conduct of any person touching public question, and respecting his character, so far as his character
appears in that conduct, and no further.

Fourth Exception: it is not defamation to publish a substantially true report of the proceeding of a
court of justice, or the result of any such proceedings.

Fifth Exception: It is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion. Whatever respecting the
merits of any case, civil or criminal, which has been decided by a court of justice or respecting the
conduct of any person as party witness or agent, in any case such of respecting the character of such
person as far as his character appears in that conduct and no further.

Sixth Exception: it is not defamation to express in good faith any opinion. Whatever respecting the
merits of any performance, which its author has submitted to the judgment of the public, or
respecting the character of the author so far as his character appears in such performance and no
further. Seventh Exception: it is not defamation if a person having over another any authority, either
conferred by lay or arising out of any lawful contact made with that other to pass in good faith any
censure on the conduct of that other in matters to which such lawful authority relates.
 Eighth Exception: it is not defamation to prefer good faith an accusation against any person to any of
those who have lawful authority over the person with respect to the subject matter of accusation.
Ninth Exception: It is not defamation to make an imputation on the character of another provided
that imputation be made in good faith for the protection of the interest of the person making it or of
any other person, or for the public good.

Tenth Exception: It is not defamation to convey a caution in good faith to one person against another
provided that, such caution in be intended for the good of the person to whom it is conveyed, or of
same person in whom that person is interested, or for the public good.

Punishment for Defamation: Section 500, 501, and 502 of the Indian Penal Code deals with the
punishment for defamation.

Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code lays down, ‘whoever defames another shall be punished with
simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

Section 501 of the Indian Penal Code lays down, whoever prints or engraves any matter, knowing or
having god reason to believe that such matter is defamatory of any person, shall be punished with
simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

Section 502 of the Indian Penal Code lays down, ‘whoever sells or offers for sale any printed or
engraved substance containing defamatory matter, knowing that it contains such matter, shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with
both.

Sedition
Section 124A of IPC is dealing with the law of sedition. This section says “Whoever, by words, either spoken or
written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or
contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in India, a
shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may
extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine”.
Explanations:
1. The expression “disaffection” includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity.
2. Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their
alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not
constitute an offence under this section.
3. Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without
exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.
Punishment: Imprisonment for Life + Fine or 3 Years + Fine or Fine

Sedition became a big issue in India in 2010 when writer Arundhati Roy, amongst others, were sought to be
charged with sedition for advocating independence for the disputed Kashmir region. Many human
rights activists have also found themselves charged with sedition.
Binayak Sen, an activist, was found guilty of sedition. He is national Vice-President of the People's Union for
Civil Liberties (PUCL). On 24 December 2010, the Additional Sessions and District Court Judge B.P Varma
Raipur found Binayak Sen, Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyaland Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha, guilty of
sedition for helping the Maoists in their fight against the state. They were sentenced to life imprisonment, but he
got bail in Supreme Court on 16 April 2011.

On 10 September 2012, Aseem Trivedi, a political cartoonist, was sent to judicial custody till 24 September
2012 on charges of sedition over a series of cartoons against corruption. Though the cartoons were derogatory
to National Emblem and the Constitution of India, Trivedi's arrest under sedition has been questioned by
experts.

Case Study

Aseem Trivedi's cartoons were displayed at the movement started by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. The
Kanpur-based cartoonist, associated with Hazare's anti-graft movement, was arrested on September 8, 2012,
which caused a public outcry. The division bench of Bombay High Court passed the ruling on a public interest
litigation filed by a lawyer, Sanskar Marathe in 2012 after the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on charges of
sedition for drawing cartoons that allegedly insulted the national emblem and Parliament. Witty and humorous
cartoons and caricatures against government do not attract sedition charges, the Bombay high court ruled on 17 th
March 2015 while observing that such charges cannot be slapped for merely criticising those in power unless
such writing or saying incites violence or causes public disorder.  "After having seen the seven cartoons drawn
by Aseem Trivedi we find it difficult to find any wit or humour in it. The cartoons which were part of the
movement initiated by Anna Hazare had no element of wit or humour in it. It only displayed anger and disgust.
But that does not mean that it attracts sedition charges as it did not invoke violence," the court said. 
"Citizens have the right to say or write anything criticising the government and its measures as far as it does not
incite violence or create problems in law and order," a division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice G
S Kulkarni said. 

Obscenity

The concept of obscenity differs from country to country depending on the moral
standards of contemporary society. The Encyclopedia definition of Obscenity states, 'By English law it is an
indictable misdemeanor to show an obscene exhibition or to publish any obscene matter, whether it be writing
or by pictures, effigy or otherwise.' The precise meaning of "obscene" is, however, decidedly ambiguous. It has
been defined as something offensive to modesty or decency, or expressing or suggesting unchaste or lustful
ideas or being impure, indecent or lewd".

One of the most controversial issue is balancing the need to protect society against the potential harm that may
flow from obscene material, and the need to ensure respect for freedom of expression and to preserve a free flow
of information and idea. The Constitution guarantees freedom of expression but in Article 19(2) it also makes it
clear that the State may impose reasonable restriction in the interest of public decency and morality. The
culminative effect of these provisions seems to sustain the legality of any act of the State which lawfully
restrains the publication of 'obscene' material in India.
The law relating to obscenity is laid down in Sec.292 of the Indian Penal Code which came about by Act 36 of
1969. Sec.292 reads as follows:

Sale, etc., of obscene books, etc.-(1) For the purposes of sub-section (2) book, pamphlet, paper, writing,
drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, shall be deemed to be obscene, if it is lascivious or
appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect, or (where it comprises two or more distinct items) the effects of
any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely ,
having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.
(2) Whoever- sells , lets to hire ,distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner puts into circulation or for
purposes of sale, hire, distribution public exhibition of circulation, makes produces, or has in

(a) Possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing painting, representation or figure or any other
obscene objects whatsoever, or

(b) Imports, exports or conveys any obscene objects for any of the purposes, aforesaid, on knowing or having
reason to believe that such objects will be sold let to hire, distributed or publicly exhibited or in any manner put
into circulation or

(c) takes part in or receives profit from any business in the course of which he knows or has reasons to believe
that such an object are for any of the purposes aforesaid, made produced, purchased , kept, imported, exported,
convey, publicly excited, or in any manner put into circulation, or

(d) advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever that any person is engaged or is ready to engage in any
act which is an offence under this section, or that any such obscene object can be procured from or through any
person, or

(e) Offers or attempts to do any act which is an offence under this section, shall be punished [on first conviction
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, and with fine which may
extend to two thousand rupees, and, in the event of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment of
either description for a term which may extend to five years, and also with fine which may extend to five
thousand rupees.

Exception- this section does not extend to-

(a) any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation of figure-

(i) The publication of which is proved to be justified as being for the public good on the ground that such book,
pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure is in the interest of science, literature, art or
learning or other objects of general concern, or

(ii) which is kept or used bona fide for religious purpose;

(b) any representation sculptured, engraved, painted or otherwise
represented on or in-

(i) any ancient monument within the meaning of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains
Act,1958(24 of 58), or

(ii) any temple, or any car used for the conveyance of idols, or kept or used for any religious purpose.

3. Objects and Reasons

Section 292 of Act 8 of 19521 was amended by Act 36 of 1969. The objects and reason laid down by the
Parliament for the amendment states as;

"Under the present sec.292 and sec.293 of the Indian Penal Code, there is a danger of publication meant for
public good or for bonafide purpose of science, literature, art or any other branch of learning being declared as
obscene literature as there is no specific provision in the act for exempting them from operations of those
sections. The Act removes that lacuna so as to bring the law into conformity with modern practice in other
civilized countries."

Analyzing the Law

(a). Though the amendment of 1969 brought about changes to obscenity law, the primary object of the 1969
amendment of sec.292 was to prevent circulation of and traffic in obscene literature. It was specifically to
restrict communication of certain types of materials based on their content. The amendment did not still lay
down the definition of obscenity.

(b). The present provision is so vague that it becomes difficult to apply it. The purposeful omission of the
definition of obscenity has led to attack of sec.292 of the Indian penal Code as being too vague to qualify as a
penal provision. It is quite unclear what the provisions mean. This unacceptably large 'grey area', common in
laws restricting sexual material, would appear to result not from a lack of capacity or effort on the part of
drafters or legislators. Rather, it would seem to be the consequence of an explicit desire to include inherently
nebulous concepts within these laws so as to enable application whenever public concern is raised in relation to
certain material. This should stir a major uneasiness to protect against politically-motivated restrictions of this
sort.

(c). The test here is whether the law 'is so obscure' as to be incapable of interpretation with any degree of
precision using ordinary tools. The obscenity legislation and jurisprudence prior to the enactment of Act 36 of
1969 were concerned with prohibiting 'immoral influences' of obscene publications and safeguarding the moral
individual into whose hands such works could fall. It has to be kept in mind that to impose a certain standard of
public and sexual morality, solely because it reflects the conventions of a given community, is inimical to the
exercise and enjoyment of individual freedoms, which forms the basis of our Constitution.
(d). The enactment of sec. 292 by the legislative, prohibited such material on the belief that they had a
detrimental impact on the individual exposed to them and consequently on society as a whole. Our
understanding of the harms caused by these materials has developed considerably since that time; however this
does not detract from the fact that the purpose of this legislation remains, as was in 1969, the protection of
society from harms caused by the exposure to obscene materials. In 1969, the harm to society caused by
publication and circulation of obscene material may well have been defined more strictly in terms of public
morality.

(e). The Supreme Court of India has time and again adopted the test of obscenity laid down by Cockburn. The
test of obscenity is 'whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those
whose minds are open to such immoral influences, and in whose hands a publication of this sort may fall.'
But these makes the court the judge of obscenity in relation to an impugned book, or article, or newspaper and
(which) lays emphasis on the potentiality of the impugned object to deprave and corrupt by immoral influences.
Interestingly, this test of obscenity was laid down in the Hicklin case in 1869 which remains a part of obscenity
jurisprudence in India today.

(f). The legislative chose to leave sec.292 to open ends and by doing so left the criteria for application of
standards to the judges. It is not the function of the judge to define material which are to be proscribed by law.
The present law which fails to define obscenity with precision is too arbitrary and too vague.

The law on obscenity in India is clearly outdated and inconsistent with constitutional and international
guarantees of freedom of expression and in desperate need of amendment. The word 'obscene' has not been
defined in the code. The laws are vague in that no specific definition is laid down which could lead to arbitrary
interpretation and in gross violation of freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution of India. Thus, a
comprehensive review of sec.292 is inevitable.

Official Secrets Act, 1923

Short title, extent and application

    (1) This Act may be called the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

    (2) It extends to the whole of India and applies also to servants of the Government and to citizens
of India outside India.

Penalties for spying

    (1) If any person for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State-

    (a) approaches, inspects, passes over or is in the vicinity of, or enters, any prohibited place; or
    (b) makes any sketch, plan, model, or note which is calculated to be or might be or is intended to be, directly
or indirectly, useful to an enemy; or

    (c) obtains, collects, records or publishes or communicates to any other person any secret official code or pass
word, or any sketch, plan, model, article or note or other document or information which is calculated to be or
might be or is intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy or which relates to a matter the
disclosure of which is likely to affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State or friendly
relations with foreign States;

he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend, where the offence is committed in
relation to any work of defence, arsenal, naval, military or air force establishment or station, mine, minefield,
factory, dockyard, camp, ship or aircraft or otherwise in relation to the naval, military or air force affairs of
Government or in relation to any secret official code, to fourteen years and in other cases to three years.

Communications with foreign agents to be evidence of commission of certain offences

        (a) A person may be presumed to have been in communication with a foreign agent if-

            (i) He has, either within or without [India], visited the address of a foreign agent or consorted or
associated with a foreign agent, or

            (ii) Either within or without [India], the name or address of, or any other information regarding, a foreign
agent has been found in his possession, or has been obtained by him from any other person;

Wrongful communication, etc., of information

    (1) If any person having in his possession or control any secret official code or pass word or any sketch, plan,
model, article, note, document or information which relates to or is used in a prohibited place or relates to
anything in such a place, or which is likely to assist, directly or indirectly, an enemy or which relates to a matter
the disclosure of which is likely to affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State or
friendly relations with foreign States or which has been made or obtained in contravention of this Act, or which
has been entrusted in confidence to him by any person holding office under Government, or which he has
obtained or to which he has had access owing to his position as a person who holds or has held office under
Government, or as person who holds or has held a contract made on behalf of Government, or as a person who
is or has been employed under a person who holds or has held such an office or contract-

        (a) Wilfully communicates the code or pass word, sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or
information to any person other than a person

to whom he is authorised to communicate it or a Court of Justice or a person to whom it is, in the interests of the
State, his duty to communicate it; or
        (b) Uses, the information in his possession for the benefit of any foreign power or in any other manner
prejudicial to the safety of the State; or

        (c) retains the sketch, plan, model, article, note or document in his possession or control when he has no 
right to retain it, or when it is contrary to his duty to retain it, or wilfully fails to comply with all directions
issued by lawful authority with regard to the return or disposal thereof ; or

        (d) fails to take reasonable care of, or so conducts himself as to endanger the safety of, the sketch, plan,
model, article, note, document, secret official code or pass word or information;

He shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

    (2) If any person voluntarily receives any secret official code or pass world or any sketch, plan. Model,
article, note, document or information knowing or having reasonable ground to believe, at the time when he
receives it, that the code, pass word, sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information is
communicated in contravention of this Act, he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

    (3) If any person having in his possession or control any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or
information, which relates to munitions of war communicates it, directly or indirectly, to any foreign power or
in any other manner prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, he shall be guilty of an offence under this
section.

    (4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.]

Unauthorised use of uniforms; falsification of reports, forgery, personation, and false documents

    (1) If any person for the purpose of gaining admission or of assisting any other person to gain admission to a
prohibited place or for any other purpose prejudicial to the safety of the State-

        (a) uses or wears, without lawful authority, any naval, military, air force, police or other official uniform, or
any uniform so nearly resembling the same as to be calculated to deceive, or falsely represents himself to be a
person who is or has been entitled to use or wear any such uniform; or

        (b) orally, or in writing in any declaration or application, or in any document signed by him or on his
behalf, knowingly makes or connives at the making of any false statement or any omission; or

        (c) forges, alters, or tampers with any passport or any naval, military, air force, police, or official pass,
permit, certificate, licence, or other document of a similar character (hereinafter in this section referred to as an
official document) or knowingly uses or has in his possession any such forged, altered, or irregular official
document; or
        (d) personates, of falsely represents himself to be, a person holding, or in the employment of a person
holding, office under Government, or to be or not to be a person to whom an official document or secret official
code or pass word has been duly issued or communicated, or with intent to obtain an official document, secret
official code or pass word, whether for himself or any other person, knowingly makes any false statement; or

        (e) uses, or has in his possession or under his control, without the authority of the department of the
Government or the authority concerned, any die, seal or stamp of or belonging to, or used, made or provided by,
any department of the Government, or by any diplomatic, naval, military, or air force authority appointed by or
acting under the authority of Government, or any die, seal or stamp so nearly resembling any such die, seal or
stamp as to be calculated to deceive, or counterfeits any such die, seal or stamp, or knowingly uses, or has in his
possession or under his control, any such counterfeited die, seal or stamp;

He shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

    (2) If any person for any purpose prejudicial to the safety of the State-

        (a) retains any official document, whether or not completed or issued for use, when he has no right to retain
it, or when it is contrary to his duty to retain it, or wilfully fails to comply with any direction issued by any
department of the Government or any person authorised by such department with regard to the return or disposal
thereof; or

        (b) allows any other person to have possession of any official document issued for his use alone, or
communicates any secret official code or pass word so issued, or, without lawful authority or excuse, has in his
possession any official document or secret official code or pass word issued for the use of some person other
than himself, or, on obtaining possession of any official document by finding or otherwise, wilfully fails to
restore it to the person or authority by whom or for whose use it was issued, or to a police officer; or

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 6[three years], or with fine, or with both.

Attempts, incitements, etc.

Any person who attempts to commit or abets the commission of an offence under this Act shall be punishable
with the same punishment, and be liable to be proceeded against in the same manner as if he had committed
such offence.

Provisions of section 337 of Act 5 of 1898 to apply to offences under section 3, 5 and 7

The provisions of section 337 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 8 shall apply in relation to an offence
punishable under section 3 or under section 5 or under section 7 or under any of the said sections 3, 5 and 7 read
with section 9, as they apply in relation to an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to seven years.]
Exclusion of public from proceedings

In addition and without prejudice to any powers which a Court may possess to order. the exclusion of the public
from any proceedings if, in the course of proceedings before a Court against any person for an offence under
this Act or the proceedings on appeal, or in the course of the trial of a person under this Act., application is made
by the prosecution, on the ground that the publication of any evidence to be given or of any statement to be
made in the course of the proceedings would be prejudicial to the safety of the State, that all or any portion of
the public shall be excluded during any part of the hearing, the Court may make an order to that effect, but the
passing of sentence shall in any case take place in public.

Offences by companies

    (1) If the person committing an offence under this Act. Is a company, every person who, at the time the
offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of
the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be
proceeded against and punished accordingly:

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to such punishment
provided in this Act. if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all
due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

    (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act. has been
committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance
of, or is attributable to any negligence on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the
company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and
shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

    Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-

        (a) "company" means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individual; and

        (b) "Director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

[16. Repeals: Repealed by the Repealing Act, 1927]

Iftikar Gilani Case

On September07, 2002 New Delhi,  Iftikhar Geelani, the son-in-law of firebrand Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed
Ali Shah Geelani, was charge sheeted by Delhi police for allegedly supplying sensitive documents to Pakistan
on the deployment of Indian troops and para-military forces in Jammu and Kashmir, under Sections 3 and 9 of
the Official Secrets Act and Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 292 (obscenity) of IPC.
The court observed that under Section 3(2) of Official Secrets Act it is not necessary to show that the accused
was guilty of any particular act tending to show a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state. Prima
facie the circumstances and conduct are enough to draw a presumption against the person so accused.

On January 13, 2003 Seven months after he was arrested journalist Iftikar Gilani was released by a Special
Court .The release came after the government in a volte-face decided to withdraw the case against him for
allegedly possessing sensitive documents relating to troop deployment in Jammu and Kashmir.

PRESS & REGISTRATION OF BOOKS ACT

The oldest surviving Act is the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. It also remained the
fundamental law governing the rules for the regulation of the publication of newspapers and of having
printing presses. Though no license or permission is required for starting and running a newspaper, no
paper can be published without complying with the provision of this act. A declaration made in the
prescribed manner before the District, Presidency or Sub-Divisional Magistrate and authenticated by
him is necessary before the newspaper is published. Similarly, no printing press can be set without
making a relevant declaration.
The act requires that the name of the printer, the place of printing and the name of the publisher and
place of publication must be legibly printed on every book or newspaper printed/published within
India.
For having a press to print books or newspapers, a declaration must be made before the District
Presidency or Sub-Divisional Magistrate giving description of its location.
Every time a press is shifted to a new place a fresh declaration is necessary. But if the change of the
place is for a period less than 60 days, the new location also falls within the jurisdiction of the same
Magistrate, and the keeper of the Press continues to be the same, no fresh declaration need to be
made. In that case, and intimation regarding the change of place sent within 24 hours will suffice.
Two conditions are necessary to be fulfilled for publishing a newspaper. One, the name of the editor
must be clearly printed on every copy of the newspaper. Two, a declaration must be made before the
district, Presidency or Sub-Divisional Magistrate within whose jurisdiction the newspaper is to be
published, stating the following facts: a name of the printer and publisher b premises where printing
and publishing is conducted c) the title, language and periodicity of the newspaper. The printer and
publisher either in person or through an authorized agent should make the declaration. If the printer or
publisher is not the owner of the paper, the declaration should specify the name of the owner. But,
making a declaration does not automatically pave the way for publishing a newspaper. Publication can
be started only after the said Magistrate authenticates the declaration.
Every time the title, language or periodicity is changed, the declaration ceases to exist, and a fresh
declaration must be made. Similarly, a new declaration is necessary as often as the ownership or the
place of printing or publication of the newspaper is changed. However, only a statement furnished to
the Magistrate will suffice if the change of place is for a period not exceeding 30 days or if he is by
infirmity or otherwise incapable of carrying out his duties for more than 90 days, then a fresh
declaration will have to be made.
No person who does not ordinarily reside in India or a minor can file a declaration or edit a
newspaper. If the declaration is made in accordance with the provisions of the law and if no other
paper bearing the same or similar title is already in existence in the same language or the same state,
then the Magistrate cannot refuse to authenticate the declaration. However, before authentication he
must make an inquiry from the Registrar or newspapers for India RNI about the existence of such
other paper.
The authentication is an administrative and not a judicial function, and the Magistrate must perform it
without exercising his personal discretion. After authentication the paper must be started within a
specific period. The declaration in respect of a newspaper to be published once a week or more shall
be void if it is not commenced within six weeks of the authentication. In case of all other newspapers
the time limit for commencing publication is three months. This means that a daily, a weekly or bi-
weekly newspapers must commence publication within six weeks and a fortnightly, a monthly or a
quarterly can start publishing within three months after authentication.
The Magistrate can cancel the declaration and order closure of a newspaper, for irregular publication.
If in any period of three months, a daily, a tri-weekly, a biweekly or a fortnightly newspaper publishes
less than half the number of issues, which it should have published in accordance with the declaration,
the newspaper shall cease to publish. A fresh declaration must be filed before it can be started again.
In case of any other newspaper the maximum period of non-publication must not exceed 12 months in
order to keep the declaration alive.
Two copies of each issue of a newspaper and up to three copies of each book must be delivered, in a
prescribed manner to the Government free of expense.
The Magistrate can cancel the declaration after giving opportunity to show cause to the person
concerned, if the Magistrate is satisfied on the following counts:
 The newspaper is being published in contravention of the provisions of this Act or rules
made under it, or
 The newspaper bears a title which is the same as, or similar to that of any other newspaper
published either in the same language or in the same state,
Or
 The printer or publisher has ceased to be so, or
 The declaration was made on false representation on concealment of any material fact
The Magistrate’s decision can be challenged in an appeal before the Press and Registration Appellate
Board. The Board comprises a Chairman and another member nominated by the Press Council of
India.
Penalties: If a newspaper or a book is printed or published without legibly printing the name of the
printer and publisher as also the name of the place of printing/publishing, the printer or publisher can
be fined up to two thousand rupees or imprisoned up to six months or punished by both. The same
punishment can be awarded for keeping a press without making declaration or for making false
statement or for editing, printing or publishing a newspaper without conforming to the rules. In the
last case the Magistrate, may in addition to this punishment also cancel the declaration in respect of
the newspaper.
Non-compliance with the requirement regarding the delivery of copies of newspaper will invite a
penalty of up to Rs. 30 for each default. In case of publication of a book, the value of the copies of the
book may be charged.
Registrar of Newspaper: there is a provision for appointment of a Press Registrar by the
Government of India for the whole of the country. The Press Registrar maintains a register containing
the following particulars of each newspaper: Title, language, periodicity, name of the editor, printer
and publisher, place of printing and publication, average number of pages per week, number of days
of publication in the year, average number of copies printed, sold and distributed free, retail selling
price per copy, and name and addresses of owners.
The Press Registrar also issues a certificate of registration to the publisher of the newspaper. He does
this on receipt of a copy of the declaration from the Magistrate who has authenticated it.
It is the duty of the publisher to furnish to the Press Registrar an annual statement for the above
particulars about his newspaper. It is also his duty to publish such of the particulars in the newspaper
as may be specified by the Press Registrar. The Rules require the publication in the first issue after the
last day of February each year, the name, address, nationality of the editor and publisher, and the
name of all those holding one percent or more shares in the newspaper.
The newspaper is also obliged to furnish returns, statistics and other information as the Press Registrar
may from time to time require. Non-comp lice attract a fine of five hundred rupees. The Press
Registrar has a right of access to record and documents of the newspaper for the purpose of collection
of any information about it.

WORKING JOURNALIST ACT

A large number of persons are employed in the various newspapers and periodicals being published in
India. Every newspaper or periodical establishment-had devised its own way of employing persons to
run its working. The Government of India constituted the Press Commission to enquire, among other
things, into the conditions of employment of working journalists. The Press Commission made certain
recommendations for improvement and regulation of such service conditions by means of legislation.
Accordingly, the Working Journalists & other Newspaper Employees Conditions of service and
Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 was passed. The act extends to the whole of India, except the
state of Jammu & Kashmir.

Definitions

The provisions of the Act define certain terms as follows:

Newspaper means any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news
and includes such other class of printed periodical work as many, from time to time, be notified in this
behalf by central Government in the official Gazette.

Newspaper Employees means any working Journalists and includes any other person employed to do
any work in or in relation to any newspaper establishment.

Newspaper Establishment means an establishment under the control of any person or body of persons,
whether incorporated or not for any production or publication of one or more newspaper or for
conducting any news agency or syndicate.

Working Journalists means a person whose principal avocation is that of a journalist and who is
employed as such, either whole -time or part -time in, or in relation to, one or more newspaper
establishment, and includes an editor, a leader writer, news-editor, sub-editor, feature-writer, copy-
tester, reporter, correspondent, cartoonist, news-photographer and proof-reader, but does not include
any such person who

a) is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity or

b) being employed in a supervisory capacity, performs, either by the nature of duties attached to his
office of by reasons of the power vested in him, and function mainly of a managerial nature.

Retrenchment

For retrenchment of a working journalist the following period of notice need to be given:
a) six months, in case of an editor,

b) three months, in ca se of any other working Journalists.

A working journalist had been retrenched shall be entitled to receive from employer:

a) wages for one month at the rate to which he was entitled immediately before his retrenchment,
unless he has been given one-month notice in writing before such retrenchment; and

b) compensation which shall be equivalent to 15-days average pay for every completed years of
service under that employer or any part thereof in excess of six months.

Payment of gratuity

a) Any working journalists has been in continuous service, whether before or after the commencement
of this Act for not less than 3 years in any newspaper establishment and (i) his services are terminated
by the employer in relation to that newspaper establishment for any reason whatsoever, otherwise than
a punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action or (ii) he retires from services on reaching the
age of superannuating or

b) Any working journalist has been in continuous service whether before or after the commencement
of this Act for not less than 10 years in any newspaper establishment and he voluntarily resign on or
after 1st day of July 1961 from services in that newspaper establishment on any ground what so ever
other than on the ground of conscience or

c) Any working journalist has been in continuous service whether before or after the commencement
of this Act for not less than 3 years in any newspaper establishment and he voluntarily resigned on or
after 1st day of July 1961, from services in that newspaper establishment on any ground whatsoever
other than on the ground of conscience or

d) Any working journalist dies while he is in service in any newspaper establishment

Hours of work

No working journalist shall be required or allowed to work in any newspaper establishment for more
than 144 hours during any periods of 4 consecutive weeks, exclusive of time for meals.

Every working journalist shall be allowed during any period of 7 consecutive days rest for a period of
not less than 24 consecutive hours, the period between 10 pm and 6 pm being included therein

The maximum hour of work for any period of consecutive weeks is 144 hours.

Special provisions regarding editor, etc

The provision of this chapter shall not apply to editor, or to correspondents, reporters or news
photographers

the following provision shall apply to every correspondent, reporter, news photographer stationed at
the

place at which the newspaper in relation to person is employed namely

a) Subject to such agreement as may be arrived at either collectively or individually between the
parties concerned, every correspondent, reporter or news photographer shall, once he enters upon duty
on any day, be deemed to be on duty throughout that day till he finishes all the work assigned to him
during the day.

Provided that if such correspondent, reporter or news photographer has had at his disposal for rest any
interval or intervals for a total period of two hours or less between any two or more assignments of
work, he shall not be on duty during such period. Provided further that where the total period of such
interval or intervals exceeds two hours he shall be deemed to be on duty during the period, which is in
excess of the said period of two hours.

b) Any period of work in excess of 36 hours during any week which shall be considered as a unit of
work for the purpose of this sub rule shall be compensated by rest during the succeeding week and
shall be given in one or more spells of not more than three hours each.

Provided that where the aggregate of the excess hours worked falls short of three hours, the duration
of rest shall be limited only to such excess.

Normal working days

The number of hours which shall constitute a normal working day for working journalists exclusive of
time for meals shall exceed six hours per day in case of a day shift and five and half hours per day in
case of night shift and no working journalist shall ordinarily be required or allowed to work for longer
than the number of hours constituting a normal working day.

Compensation for overtime work

When a working journalist works for more than six hours on any day in the case of day shift, and
more than five and half hours in case of night shift, he shall in respect of that overtime work, be
compensated in the form of hours of rest equal in number to the hours for which he has worked
overtime.

Holidays

A working journalist shall be entitled to 10 holidays in a calendar year and Shall be entitled to wages
on all holidays if he was on duty.

A working journalist shall be entitled to wages for weekly day of rest if he was on duty.

Leaves

Without prejudice to such holidays, casual leave or other kind of leave as may be prescribed, every
working journalist shall be entitled to

Earned leave on full wages for not less than one -eleventh of the period spent on duty, provided that
he shall cease to earn such leave when the earned leave due amounts to ninety days.

Leave on medical certificate: A working journalist shall be entitled to leave on medical certificate on
one-half of wages for not less than one-eighteenth of the period of service

Earn leave -

1) A working journalist shall be entitled to earned leave on full wages for a period not less than one
month for every eleven months spent on duty provided that he shall cease to earn such leave due
amount to 90 days.
2) The period spent on duty shall include weekly days of rest, holidays, casual leave and quarantine
leave.

Maternity leave

A female working journalist who has put in not less than one years of service in the newspaper
establishment in which she is for the time being employed shall be granted maternity leave on full
wages on production of a medical certificate from an authorized medical practitioner for a period
which may extend for three months from the date of its commencement or six weeks from the
confinement whichever is earlier.

Leave of any other may be granted in continuation of maternity leave.

Maternity leave shall also be granted in case of miscarriage, including abortion, subject to the
condition that the leave does not exceeds six weeks.

Quarantine leave

leave on full wage shall be granted by newspaper establishment on the certificate of authorized
medical practioneer for a period not exceeding 21 days or in exceptional circumstances, 30 days.

Extraordinary leave

working journalist who has no leave to his credit may be granted, at the discretion of newspaper
establishment in which such working journalist is employed leave not due.

Study leave may be granted in same pattern.

Casual leave

A working journalist shall be eligible for casual leave at the discretion of newspaper establishment for
15 days in a calendar year.

Setting of the wage board

For the purpose of fixing or revising rates of wages in respect of working journalists the Central
Government shall as and when necessary constitute a wage board which shall consist of –

a) Three persons representing employers in relation to newspaper establishments

b Three persons representing working journalists

c) Four independent persons, one of whom shall be a person who is or has been a judge of High court
or Supreme court and who shall be appointed by the Government as the Chairman.

Powers of Central Government to enforce recommendations of the wage board

After the receipt of the recommendations of the wage board the Central Government without affecting
the important alternation in the character of the recommendation can modify it.

Cinematograph Act, 1952

The Cinematograph Act of 1952 has been passed to make provisions for certification of
cinematographed films for exhibition by means of Cinematograph. Under this Act, the Board of Film
Censor (i.e. Central Board of Film Certification) with advisory panels at regional centres is
empowered to examine every film and sanction it whether for unrestricted exhibition or for exhibition
restricted to adults. The Board is also empowered to refuse to sanction a film for public exhibition.

The Certification process is in accordance with The Cinematograph Act, 1952, The Cinematograph
(certification) Rules, 1983, and the guidelines issued by the Central government u/s 5 (B). At present
films are certified under 4 categories –

• U - Unrestricted Public Exhibition

• UA - Unrestricted Public Exhibition - but with a word of caution that Parental discretion required for
children below 12 years

• A - Restricted to adults

• S - Restricted to any special class of persons

The Cinematograph Act lays down that a film should not be certified if any part of it is against the
interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with
foreign States, public order, decency, or involves defamation or contempt of court or is likely to incite
commission of any offence.

Under section 5B (2) the Central Government has issued the following guidelines.

A film is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact and is examined in the light
of the period depicted in the film and the contemporary standards of the country and the people to
whom the film relates, provided that the film does not deprave the morality of the audience.
Guidelines are applied to the titles of the films also.

1. Objectives of Film Certification

i) the medium of film remains responsible and sensitive to the values and standards of society;

ii) artistic expression and creative freedom are not unduly curbed;

iii) certification is responsible to social changes;

iv) the medium of film provides clean and healthy entertainment; and

v) as far as possible, the film is of aesthetic value and cinematically of a good standard.

2. In pursuance of the above objectives, the CBFC shall ensure that

i) anti social activities such as violence are not glorified or justified

ii) the modus operandi of criminals, other visuals or words likely to incite the commission of any
offence are not depicted;

iii) scenes -

a. showing involvement of children in violence as victims or perpetrators or as forced witnesses to

violence, or showing children as being subjected to any form of child abuse.

b. showing abuse or ridicule of physically and mentally handicapped persons; and

c. showing cruelty to, or abuse of animals, are not presented needlessly

iv) pointless or avoidable scenes of violence, cruelty and horror, scenes of violence primarily intended
to provide entertainment and such scenes as may have the effect of de-sensitising or de-humanising
people are not shown;

v) scenes which have the effect of justifying or glorifying drinking are not shown;

vi) scenes tending to encourage, justify or glamorise drug addiction are not shown;

a. scenes tending to encourage, justify or glamorise consumption of tobacco or smoking are not
shown;

vii) human sensibilities are not offended by vulgarity, obscenity or depravity;

viii) such dual meaning words as obviously cater to baser instincts are not allowed;

ix) scenes degrading or denigrating women in any manner are not presented;

x) scenes involving sexual violence against women like attempt to rape, rape or any form of
molestation or scenes of a similar nature are avoided, and if any such incidence is germane to the
theme, they shall be reduced to the minimum and no details are shown

xi) scenes showing sexual perversions shall be avoided and if such matters are germane to the theme
they shall be reduced to the minimum and no details are shown

xii) visuals or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are not presented

xiii) visuals or words which promote communal, obscurantist, anti-scientific and anti-national attitude
are not presented

xiv) the sovereignty and integrity of India is not called in question;

xv) the security of the State is not jeopardized or endangered

xvi) friendly relations with foreign States are not strained;

xvii) public order is not endangered

xviii) visuals or words involving defamation of an individual or a body of individuals, or contempt of

court are not presented

EXPLANATION: Scenes that tend to create scorn, disgrace or disregard of rules or undermine the
dignity of court will come under the term ''Contempt of Court'': and

xix) national symbols and emblems are not shown except in accordance with the provisions of the
Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 (12 of 1950)

3. The Board of Film Certification shall also ensure that the film

i) Is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact; and

ii) Is examined in the light of the period depicted in the films and the contemporary standards of the
country and the people to which the film relates provided that the film does not deprave the morality
of the audience.

4. Films that meet the above – mentioned criteria but are considered unsuitable for exhibition to non-
adults shall be certified for exhibition to adult audiences only.
5. i) While certifying films for unrestricted public exhibition, the Board shall ensure that the film is
suitable for family viewing, that is to say, the film shall be such that all the members of the family
including children can view it together.

ii) If the Board, having regard to the nature, content, and theme of the film is of the opinion that it is
necessary to caution the parents / guardian to consider as to whether any child below the age of twelve
years may be allowed to see such a film, the film shall be certified for unrestricted public exhibition
with an endorsement to that effect.

iii) If the Board having regard to the nature, content and theme of the film, is of the opinion that the
exhibition of the film should be restricted to members of any profession or any class of persons, the
film shall be certified for public exhibition restricted to the specialized audiences to be specified by
the Board in this behalf.

6. The Board shall scrutinize the titles of the films carefully and ensure that they are not provocative,
vulgar, offensive or violative of any of the abovementioned guidelines.

The Central Board of Film Certification is responsible for certifying films. The enforcement of
compliance to the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 entrusted to the State Governments
/Union Territory Administrations, since exhibition of films is a State subject.

The following are the major violations that agitate the minds of the public:

• exhibition of an ''''A'''' certified film to a non-adult;

• exhibition of an ''''S'''' certified film to persons other than those for whom it is meant;

• exhibition of a film in a form other than the one in which it was certified. Such violations are known
as interpolations. Interpolations can be described as follows –

o re-insertion in the prints of a film, those portions which were deleted by the Board while
certifying the film

o insertion in prints of a film, portions which were never shown to the Board for certification

o exhibition of ''''bits'''' unconnected with the certified film

• exhibition of a film which was refused a certificate (or ''''banned'''' in common parlance)

• exhibition of uncertified films with forged certificates of other films

• exhibition of films without CBFC certificate

Violations of Cinematograph act and penalties –

Section 7 of the Cinematograph Act provides penalties for violation of censorship provisions. Penalty
can also be imposed for failure to comply with section 6A which requires that any person delivering a
film to an exhibitor or a distributor will also give to him details of all cuts, certification, title, length
and conditions of certification.

A person guilty of violation while exhibiting celluloid films is punishable with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to Three years, or with fine which may extend to Rs.1/-lakh, or with both, and
with a further fine up to Rs.20,000 for each day for a continuing offence. Similarly, Showing of video
films, which violate the rules in the manner prescribed in this section will attract imprisonment of not
less than three months but which may extend to three years and a fine of not less than Rs.20,000 but
which may extend to Rs.1/-lakh and a further fine up to Rs.20,000 for each day for a continuing
offence.

Furthermore, the trial court can direct that the offending film be forfeited to the Government. Under
Section 7A, any police officer can enter a hall where an offending film is being screened, search the
premises and seize the print. Films can also be seized when they are likely to be exhibited in violation
of Cinematograph Act.

Right to Information Act

The history of the RTI Act goes back to the enactment of Freedom of Information Act, 2002, whose
objective was to promote transparency and accountability. Because the government wanted the act
to be made more effective, it was repealed and the Right to Information Bill, 2004 was passed by the
Parliament in May, 2005. This received the president's assent on 15 June, 2005. The RTI Act was
notified in the Gazette of India on 21 June, 2005 and it became fully operational on 12 October the
same year. The RTI Act mandates timely response to a request for information from a public
authority.

The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency
and accountability in the working of the Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy
work for the people in real sense. It goes without saying that an informed citizen is better equipped
to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and make the government more
accountable to the governed. The Act is a big step towards making the citizens informed about the
activities of the Government.

RTI as a landmark legislation focuses on three fundamental shifts:-

From a culture of secrecy to a culture of transparency.

From personalized despotism towards accountable government.

From unilateral decision making towards participation in governance.

Main Provisions of the Act

Every public authority has to provide to the citizen the right to information within a prescribed time
limit. Public Authorities has been ascertained by the Act itself, which includes the office of the
President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India, the Parliament, State Legislatures,
the Supreme Court, High Courts, constitutional bodies such as CAG (Comptroller and Auditor
General), Election Commission etc. It also includes all the departments, Ministries, Boards, PSUs
(Public Sector Undertakings), Agencies of Central Government, State Governments & Local
Governments.

It is mandatory for a public authority to create a separate office called as PIO (Public Information
Officer), with an objective to provide information within a prescribed time limit of 30 days. If the
information is related to life and personal liberty than the information should be provided within 48
hours.

If any citizen is not satisfied with the content, context or subject matter of any information or the
information is not provided within a prescribed time limit of 30 days, then an appeal can be filled
before 1st level Appellate Authority (i.e. the Joint Secretary of the respective department) and
against the adjudication of 1st level Appellate Authority the appeal can be filed before the 2nd
Appellate Authority (i.e. CIC- Central Information Committee & SIC- State Information Committee).

This Act also prescribes/describes the term Information in a comprehensive manner. Information
means any material in any form including records, documents, e-mails, opinions, advices, orders, law
books, contracts, samples etc.

RTI Act also determines some exceptions under which the public authorities have no obligation to
give any official information to any citizen. These exceptions are as follows:-

a. Information relating to integrity, security, sovereignty and strategic, economic & scientific interest
if the State.

b. Information which has been expressly restricted by any court of law to be published.

c. If disclosure will cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or State Legislature.

d. Information including IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) & trade secrets.

e. Information received in confidence from any foreign government.

f. Information the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person.

g. Information related to the process of investigation and prosecution.

h. Cabinet papers including records of deliberation of Council of Ministers and other high level
officials.

i. Personal information, disclosure of which has no relationship with nay public activity or interest.

Recently a study was performed by PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers - a multinational professional

services firm) to identify issues and constraints in the implementation of the Act. According to the
study main emphasis needed to be given to the Supply Side Issues & the Demand Side Issues. The
Supply Side Issues listed by PWC were as follows:-

1. Purpose Clause: Under RTI Act it is being provided that without any purpose, qualification or
objective a citizen can take any information from a public authority. Apart from this free of cost
information is provided to persons who are Below Poverty Line. According to PWC survey because of
both these clauses government spend approximately Rs 10,000 in the disposal of one case and on an
average Rs 25,000 petitions are filed in different PIOs working at different levels of government.

2. 30 Days Clause: This clause does not include administrative exceptions such as public holidays,
staff leave and administrative assignments like election, census, disaster management etc. Situation
becomes much more impractical when information is as old as 20 years.

3. Appeal & Complaint Clause: It has been observed that citizen groups & media are directly filing
complaints in spite of appeal, it leads to extraneous pressure on public functionaries and affect the
motivation of public servant and motive of this Act.

4. Any PIO Clause: Under this clause a citizen can ask any information from any PIO whether the PIO
is possessor of that information or not. In the disposal of such cases lots of time and energy is
wasted due to administrative hierarchy. Situations becomes much more difficult when 30 Days
Clause is enforced with Any PIO Clause.
The Demand Side Issues can be listed as follows:-

1. Language Clause: Under this clause the PIO should provide information to the appellant in
administrative language. It should be noted that administrative language has its own terminology,
abbreviations and complexity which is not possible for a citizen to understand.

2. Designation Clause: It has been observed that the designation of the PIO and public authority of
similar types of departments is different in different States. Apart from this the process by which a
petition can be filed and the procedure by which adjudication is done also differ in different States.

3. Issues related to Legal & Political Rights: In our education system there is no separate curriculum
which make people aware about their legal and political rights. Awareness of rights such as
Environment Protection Act, Forest Conservation Act, Consumer Protection Act, Domestic Violence
Act and RTI Act is required for every citizen to make the administration or government more
accountable and responsible.

The RTI Act has been used to fight corruption and has exposed deep-rooted graft in India. For
example, the RTI applications filed by activists Yogacharya Anandji and Simpreet Singh in 2008
exposed the infamous Adarsh Housing society scam, which eventually led to the resignation of the
then Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan.

That RTI application revealed that flats in the Adarsh Housing Society, a 31-storey building, which
was originally meant to provide residence for war widows and veterans, were used to house
politicians, bureaucrats and their relatives.

In the 2G scam, in which the then Telecom Minister A Raja undercharged mobile phone companies
for frequency allocation licenses and caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the Indian government,
an RTI application by Subhash Chandra Agrawal revealed that Raja had a "15-minute-long" meeting
with then solicitor-general Goolam E Vahanvati in December 2007 after which a "brief note was
prepared and handed over to the minister", but the minutes of the meeting were not recorded,
stated this report in The Huffington Post.

The RTI Act was also used to expose corruption after the Commonwealth Games scam, in which the
corrupt deals by politician Suresh Kalmadi embarrassed the nation. The report said that an RTI
application filed by non-profit Housing and Land Rights Network showed that the then Delhi
government had diverted Rs 744 crore from social welfare projects for Dalits to the Commonwealth
Games from 2005-06 to 2010-11.

In 2007, the RTI request filed by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, an NGO, revealed irregularities in the
distribution of food meant for people living below the poverty line by the public distribution system
in Assam, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. In 2008, an RTI application by a Punjab-
based NGO revealed that heads of the local branches of the Indian Red Cross Society had used
money intended for the victims of the Kargil war and natural disasters to buy cars, air-conditioners
and pay for hotel bills.

A PTI report published in July 2016 said that an RTI query showed that only 12 members of the
Maharashtra Cabinet have declared their assets and liabilities details as per Central governments
code of conduct for ministers. Another one filed by social activist Anil Galgali showed that as many
as 118 complaints of sexual harassment were filed at the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
(MCGM) between 2013 and July this year.
An RTI query filed by Child Rights and You (CRY) revealed in May this year that twenty-two children
go missing in the national capital everyday with most of them being boys aged upto 12 years.

Needless to say, the importance of the RTI Act can never be overstated.

There are, however, some problems with the RTI Act, the most important one being that the huge
number of RTI queries filed makes it difficult for public authorities to respond to them in a timely
manner. A 2014 study conducted by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) revealed
that over 1.75 crore RTI applications have been filed from 2005 to July 2014.

Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990

Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar Bharati Act and
came into existence on 23.11.1997. The introduction of the Prasar Bharati Bill in Parliament
in May 1979 was the direct result of the recommendations of the B. G. Verghese Committee
set up in 1977 after the Internal Emergency declared by the then Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi (1975-77). The Bill was allowed to lapse after the Janata party government elected to
form the government after the Emergency collapsed and the Congress party returned to
power. The victory of the National Front government in 1989 saw the revival of the Prasar
Bharati Bill in a somewhat modified form; the Bill was passed by Parliament and received
presidential assent on September 12, 1990. The Act provided for the formation of an
autonomous Broadcasting Corporation that would manage Doordarshan and AIR, discharging
all powers previously held by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The corporation
would inherit the capital assets of Doordarshan and AIR and would be managed by a 15-
member Prasar Bharati Board, including the Directors-General of the two organisations and
two representatives from amongst the employees. The Chair and other members of the Board
would be appointed on the recommendations of the selection committee headed by the Vice
President. A fifteen member Broadcasting Council would address public complaints.
The primary duty of the Broadcasting Corporation was to ‘organize and conduct public
broadcasting services to inform, educate, and entertain the public’ and to ensure ‘a balanced
development’ of broadcasting of radio and television. The Corporation was to be guided by a
set of objectives while discharging its functions. These include:
• Upholding the unity and integrity of the country and the values enshrined in the
Constitution
• Safeguarding the citizen’s right to be informed freely, truthfully and objectively on all
matters of public interest, national or international, and presenting a fair and balanced flow of
information including contrasting views without advocating any opinion or ideology of its
own
• Paying special attention to the fields of education and spread of literacy, agriculture, rural
development, environment, health and family welfare and science and technology.
• Providing adequate coverage to the diverse cultures and languages of the various regions of
the country by broadcasting appropriate programmes.
• Providing adequate coverage to sports and games so as to encourage healthy competition
and the spirit of sportsmanship.
• Providing appropriate programmes keeping in view the special needs of the youth.
• Informing and stimulating the national consciousness in regard to the status and problems of
women and paying special attention to the upliftment of women.
• Promoting social justice and combating exploitation, inequality and such evils as
untouchability and advancing the welfare of the weaker sections of the society.
• Safeguarding the rights of the working classes and advancing their welfare
• Serving the rural and weaker sections of the people and those residing in border regions,
backward or remote areas.
• Providing suitable programmes keeping in view the special needs of the minorities and
tribal communities.
• Taking special steps to protect the interests of children, the blind, the aged, the handicapped
and other vulnerable sections of the people.
• Promoting national integration by broadcasting in a manner that facilitates communication
in the languages in India; and facilitating the distribution of regional broadcasting services in
every State in the languages of that State.
• Providing comprehensive broadcast coverage through the choice of appropriate technology
and the best utilisation of the broadcast frequencies available and ensuring high quality
reception.
• Promoting research and development activities in order to ensure that radio and television
broadcast technology are constantly updated.
• Expanding broadcasting facilities by establishing additional channels of transmission at
various levels.
• Ensuring that broadcasting is conducted as a public service to provide and produce
programmes.
• Establishing a system for the gathering of news for radio and television;
Negotiating for the purchase of, or otherwise acquire, programmes and rights or privileges in
respect of sports and other events, films, serials, occasions, meetings, functions or incidents
of public interest, for broadcasting and to establish procedures for the allocation of such
programmes, rights or privileges to the services.
• Establishing and maintain a library or libraries of radio, television and other materials.
Conducting or commissioning, from time to time, programmes, audience research, market or
technical service, which may be released to such persons and in such manner and subject to
such terms and conditions as the Corporation may think fit.

The Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995

The principal purpose of the Act was to introduce regulatory certainty to the cable market that had emerged in
the early 1990s. The statement of objects and reasons declared that cable TV constituted a ‘cultural invasion’ as
cable programmes were predominantly western and alien to Indian culture and way of life. It declared that the
lack of regulation had resulted in undesirable programmes and advertisements being shown to Indian viewers
without any censorship.
The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 was enacted for the purpose of regulating the operations
of cable television networks in the country so as to bring uniformity in their operations, avoid undesirable
programmes from being made available to the viewers as well as to enable the optimal exploitation of the
technology which had the potential of making available to the subscribers a vast pool of information and
entertainment.

Section 3 of the Act mandates that a cable television network can be operated only by a registered cable
operator. In order to register, an entity could be
- an Indian citizen
- an association of individuals whose members are Indian citizens
- a company in which not less than 51 per cent of paid up equity share capital is held by Indian citizens
The Cable Networks Act empowers and authorizes a government officer to seize a cable operator’s equipment if
the officer has reason to believe that the cable operator is functioning without proper registration.
The Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 were enacted under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation)
Ordinance, 1994. The programme code under Rule 6 lays down restrictions on the content of both programmes
and advertisements that can be shown on cable TV. No programme can be shown that:
 Offends against good taste or decency
 Contains criticism of friendly countries
 Contains attack on religions or communities or visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups or
which promote communal attitudes
 Contains anything obscene, defamatory, deliberate, false and suggestive innuendos and half truth
 Is likely to encourage or incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order or
which promote-anti-national attitudes
 Contains anything amounting to contempt of court
 Contains aspersions against the integrity of the President and Judiciary
 Contains anything affecting the integrity of the Nation
 Criticises, maligns or slanders any individual in person or certain groups, segments of social, public
and moral life of the country
 Encourages superstition or blind belief
 Denigrates women through the depiction in any manner of the figure of a women, her form or body or
any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to women, or is
likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals
 Denigrates children
 Contains visuals or words which reflect a slandering, ironical and snobbish attitude in the portrayal of
certain ethnic, linguistic and regional groups
 Is not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition
Rule 7 deals with restrictions on advertisements. The Advertising Code in the Cable Network Rules says that all
advertising carried in the cable service have to conform to the laws of the country and should not offend
morality, decency and religious susceptibilities of the subscribers. The code says that no advertisement shall be
permitted which:
• Derides any race, caste, colour, creed and nationality
• Is against any provision of the Constitution of India
• Tends to incite people to crime, cause disorder or violence, or breach of law or glorifies violence or obscenity
in any way
• Presents criminality as desirable
• Exploits the national emblem, or any part of the Constitution or the person or personality of a national leader
or a State dignitary
• In its depiction of women violates the constitutional guarantees to all citizens.
• Projects a derogatory image of women. The Rules say that women should not be portrayed in a manner that
emphasises passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate, secondary role in the
family and society. The cable operator is supposed to ensure that the portrayal of the female form, in the
programmes carried in his cable service, is “tasteful and aesthetic, and is within the well-established norms of
good taste and decency”.
• Exploits social evils like dowry, child marriage.
• Promotes directly or indirectly production, sale or consumption of cigarettes,
tobacco products, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicants, infant milk
substitutes, feeding bottle or infant food.
The Rules prohibit advertisements that
• Are wholly or mainly of a religious or political nature or directed towards any religious or political end.
• Contain references that hurt religious sentiments.
• Contain references that are likely to lead the public to infer that the product advertised or any of its ingredients
has some special or miraculous or supernatural property or quality, which is difficult of being proved.
• Contain pictures and audible matter of the advertisement that are excessively loud
• Endanger the safety of children or creates in them any interest in unhealthy practices or shows them begging or
in an undignified or indecent manner
• Contain indecent, vulgar, suggestive, repulsive or offensive themes or treatment
• Contain advertisements that violate the standards of practice for advertising agencies as approved by the
Advertising Agencies Association of India, Bombay, from time to time.
The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2011
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in its recommendations dated the 5th August, 2010 on
"Implementation of Digital Addressable Cable Systems in India" had, inter alia, recommended that
"digitalization with addressability be implemented on priority in cable TV services in Non-CAS areas" and,
accordingly, recommended a time-frame comprising four phases for switch over from analog system to the
digital addressable system (DAS) in the cable TV sector. In view of the above-mentioned recommendations of
the TRAI, the Central Government decided to introduce digitalization with addressability in the cable TV
services in a phased time bound manner on a pan India basis, leading to complete switch off of analog TV
services by the 31st December, 2014.
For the implementation of DAS, certain amendments were required to be made in the aforesaid Act mandating
all cable operators to provide programmes of all channels, including free-to-air (FTA) channels, in an encrypted
form through DAS in a phased manner at specified areas from specified dates to be notified by the Central
Government. It is also mandatory that any such notification should give at least six months time to the cable
operators for being able to install the necessary digital equipments for migration and educate the subscribers in
this area. In order to protect the interest of consumers, it has been proposed to empower TRAI to specify a
package of free-to-air channels, called basic service tier, which shall be offered by every cable operator to the
consumers. It is also necessary that every cable operator should offer channels in the basic service tier on a la
carte (individual) basis to consumers at a tariff fixed by TRAI.
It has also been considered necessary to carry out certain amendments in the Act for rectifying certain
deficiencies noticed during the operation of the Act for the last fifteen years. These, inter alia, include
systemization of registration of cable operators, providing right of way to cable operators and permission by
public authorities, compulsory transmission of certain channels, inspection of cable network services,
prescription of interference standards by the Central Government and empowering the TRAI to specify basic
service tier and its tariff.
The Act has come into force from 25th day of December 2011.

Copyright Act
Copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to
copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over
their creations, thereby protecting and rewarding creativity.
What is Copyright?
According to Section 14 of the Act, “copyright” means “the exclusive right subject to the provisions of this Act,
to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts in respect of a work or any substantial part thereof,
namely:-
(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, not being a computer programme, -
(i) to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means;
(ii) to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;
(iii) to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public;
(iv) to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work;
(v) to make any translation of the work;
(vi) to make any adaptation of the work;
(vii) to do, in relation to a translation or an adaptation of the work, any of the acts specified in relation to the
work in sub-clauses (i) to (vi);
(b) in the case of a computer programme,-
(i) to do any of the acts specified in clause (a);
(ii) to sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the computer
programme:
Provided that such commercial rental does not apply in respect of computer programmes where the programme
itself is not the essential object of the rental.
(c) in the case of an artistic work,-
(i) to reproduce the work in any material form including depiction in three dimensions of a two dimensional
work or in two dimensions of a three dimensional work;
(ii) to communicate the work to the public;
(iii) to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;
(iv) to include the work in any cinematograph film;
(v) to make any adaptation of the work;
(vi) to do in relation to an adaptation of the work any of the acts specified in relation to the work in sub-clauses
(i) to (iv);
(d) In the case of cinematograph film, -
(i) to make a copy of the film, including a photograph of any image forming part thereof;
(ii) to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the film, regardless of whether such copy has
been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;
(iii) to communicate the film to the public;
(e) In the case of sound recording, -
(i) to make any other sound recording embodying it;
(ii) to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the sound recording regardless of whether such
copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;
(iii) to communicate the sound recording to the public.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section, a copy which has been sold once shall be deemed to be a copy
already in circulation.”

Classes of works for which copyright protection is available

Indian Copyright Act affords separate and exclusive copyright protection to the following 7 clauses of work:
1. Original Literary Work
2. Original Dramatic Work
3. Original Musical Work
4. Original Artistic Work
5. Cinematograph Films
6. Sound recording
7. Computer Programme
Copyright will not subsist in any cinematograph film if a substantial part of the film is an infringement of the
copyright in any other work or in any sound recording made in respect of a literary, dramatic or musical work, if
in making the sound recording, copyright in such work has been infringed.

Ownership of Copyright
The author of the work will be the first owner of the copyright in the following instances:
i. In the case of a literary, dramatic or artistic work made by the author in the course of his employment by the
proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship, for the
purpose of publication in a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, the said proprietor will, in the absence of
any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright in the work in so far as the copyright relates to
the publication of the work in any newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, or to the reproduction of the work
for the purpose of its being so published, but in all other respects the author will be the first owner of the
copyright in the work.
ii. In the case of a photograph taken, or a painting or portrait drawn, or an engraving or a cinematograph film
made, for valuable consideration at the instance of any person, such person will, in the absence of any
agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the copyright therein.
iii. In the case of a work made in the course of the author’s employment under a contract of service or
apprenticeship, the employer will, in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, be the first owner of the
copyright therein.
iv. In the case of any address or speech delivered in public, the person who has delivered such address or speech
or if such person has delivered such address or speech on behalf of any other person, such other person will be
the first owner of the copyright therein notwithstanding that the person who delivers such address or speech, or,
as the case may be, the person on whose behalf such address or speech is delivered, is employed by any other
person who arranges such address or speech or on whose behalf or premises such address or speech is delivered.
v. In the case of a government work, government in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, will be the
first owner of the copyright therein.
vi. In the case of a work made or first published by or under the direction or control of any public undertaking,
such public undertaking in the absence of any agreement to the contrary, will be the first owner of the copyright
therein.
vii. In case of any work which is made or first published by or under the directions or control of any
international organisation, such international organisation will be the first owner of the copyright therein.

Term of copyright
Copyright generally lasts for a period of sixty years.
ü In the case of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, the sixty year period is counted from the year
following the death of the author.
ü In the case of cinematograph films, sound recordings, photographs, posthumous publications, anonymous and
pseudonymous publications, works of government and public undertakings and works of international
organisations, the 60-year period is counted from the date of publication.
ü In case of Broadcast reproduction right - 25 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the
year in which the broadcast is made.
ü In case of Performers right - 25 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which
the performance is made.

Rights of Broadcasting Organisation and of Performers

Every broadcasting organisation will have a special right to be known as 'broadcast reproduction right' in respect
of its broadcasts. The broadcast reproduction right will subsist until twenty-five years from the beginning of the
calendar year next following the year in which the broadcast in made. This would prevent any person other than
the broadcasting organisation from:
i) Re-broadcasting what has already been broadcasted
ii) Causing the broadcast to be seen or heard by the public on payment of charges
iii) Making any sound/visual recording of the broadcast
iv) Making any reproduction of such sound recording ro visual recording where such initial recording was done
without licence or, where it was licensed, for any purpose not envisaged by such licence
v) Selling or hiring or offering to sell or hire sound/visual recordings.
Where any performer appears or engages in any performance, he will have a special right known as the
'performer's right' in relation to such performance. The performer's right will subsist until fifty years from the
beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the performance is made. These rights are:
i) No person may make a sound/visual recording of the performer’s performances
ii) Reproduce a sound/visual recording
iii) Broadcast the performance
iv) Communicate to the public otherwise than by broadcast
No broadcast reproduction right or performer's right will be deemed to be infringed by:-
• The making of any sound recording or visual recording for the private use of the person making such
recording, or solely for purposes of bona fide teaching or research; or
• The use, consistent with fair dealing, of excerpts of a performance or of a broadcast in the reporting of current
events or for bona fide review, teaching or research; or
• Such other acts, with any necessary adaptations and modifications, which do not constitute infringement of
copyright under the Act.
Copyright Societies
Collective administration of copyright by societies is a concept where management and protection of copyright
in works are undertook by a society of owners of such works. Obviously no owner of copyright in any work can
keep track of all the uses others make of his work. When he becomes a member of a national copyright society,
that society, because of its organisational facilities and strength, is able to keep a better vigil over the uses made
of that work throughout the country and collect due royalties from the users of those works. Because of the
country’s membership in international conventions, the copyright societies are able to have reciprocal
agreements with similar societies in other countries for collecting royalties for the uses of Indian works in those
countries. From this it can automatically be inferred that it will be in the interests of copyright owners to join a
collective administration organisation to ensure better protection to the copyright in their works and for reaping
optimum economic benefits from their creations. Users of different types of works also find it easy to obtain
licences for legal exploitation of the works in question, though the collective administrative society.
A copyright society is a registered collective administration society under Section 33 of the Copyright Act,
1957. Such a society is formed by copyright owners. The minimum membership required for registration of a
society is seven. Ordinarily, only one society is registered to do business in respect of the same class of work. A
copyright society can issue or grant licences in respect of any work in which copyright subsists or in respect of
any other right given by the Copyright Act.
The following are the registered copyright societies in India:
i. For cinematograph and television films : Society for Copyright Regulation of Indian Producers for Film and
Television (SCRIPT) 135 Continental Building, Dr. A.B. Road, Worli, Mumbai 400 018;
ii. For musical works: The Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS), 208, Golden Chambers, 2nd
Floor, New Andheri Link Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai- 400 058
(Website: http://www.iprs.org/);
iii. For sound recording: Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) Flame Proof Equipment Building, B.39,
Off New Link Road, Andheri (West), Mumbai 400 053
(Website: http://www.pplindia.org/);
iv. For reprographic (photo copying) works: Indian Reprographic Rights Organization (IRRO), 18/1-C,
Institutional Area, Near JNU Campus, New Delhi – 110067, (Website:
http://www.irro.in/)