Parliament passed a Bill to replace a
British-era law governing the publishing industry and simplify the process of
registration of periodicals on Thursday. The move was taken amid demands by
members in the Lok Sabha to extend the regulation to YouTube channels.
Information and Broadcasting Minister
Anurag Thakur said the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023, which
was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha, will make the registration of
periodicals a one-step process as against the eight-step process in the archaic
law.
The Bill replaces the Press and
Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867. The Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill on
August 3.
“This bill is simple, smart and has a
simultaneous process for registration of newspapers and periodicals. Earlier
newspapers or magazines had to pass through an eight-step registration process.
This can now be done at the click of a button,” Thakur said.
He said newspapers and periodicals will
now be able to get registered within two months as against the two-three years
required earlier.
“The Bill reflects yet another step of
the Modi Government towards jettisoning the mentality of slavery and bringing
new laws for ‘new India’,” Thakur said.
The minister slammed the previous
Congress governments for continuing with the colonial-era law enacted by the
British to curb freedom fighters from starting newspapers.
Thakur said the new Bill seeks to
decriminalise six provisions of the previous law barring one that pertains to a
six-month jail term for publishing newspapers or periodicals without
registration with the government.
The minister said in cases of publishing
a newspaper without registration the provision of jail term comes into force if
the publisher fails to comply with the direction of the Press Registrar to stop
publication within six months.
The Bill empowers the Press Registrar
General to impose penalties of up to ₹ 5 lakh for publishing periodicals
without registration and up to ₹ 20,000 for first penalty for failing to
furnish annual statement within the specified time.
“The priority of the government is to
end criminality, improve ease of doing business and ease of living through new
laws and accordingly, efforts have been made to substantially decriminalise the
colonial-era statute,” Thakur said.
He said the previous Congress-led Government
had made attempts to amend the PRB Act of 1867 but the legislation proposed was
“equally harsh as the colonial-era law” with government permission required
even to publish a college newsletter.
Thakur dismissed as baseless the
apprehensions voiced by AIMIM member Imtiaz Jaleel about a provision in the
Bill that seeks to empower the Press Registrar to enter the premises of a
periodical and “inspect or take copies of the relevant records or documents or
ask any questions necessary for obtaining any information required to be
furnished”.
“The apprehensions of Jaleel sahab are
baseless. You can criticise the government as much as you like. No action has
been taken, but if you work against national interest then the law will take
its own course,” Thakur said.
Earlier, participating in the debate on
Bill, BJP member Nishikant Dubey wanted the government to appoint a nodal
officer to curb malpractices where in YouTube channel operators seek to indulge
in blackmail, or small newspapers crop up during elections to avail of
advertisments.
BJP MP Ganesh Singh also wanted the
government to put in place a system to regulate social media, which is used to
blackmail politicians.
BJD member Bhratruhari Mahtab flagged
the issue of increase in cost of newsprint. This is putting a strain on the
newspaper industry which was already facing challenges from the audio-visual
media and social media, the MP said.
YSRCP member KG Madhav and Shiv Sena
member Rahul Shewale wanted the government to take steps to deal with the
menace of fakenews.
PTI
