CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has re-enforced Section 95 of the Criminal Penal Code (Cr.PC.) to place curbs on the publication of statements issued by militant organizations owning responsibility for certain incidents. It is a subtle mechanism to guard against printing of what the authorities consider objectionable.

All Deputy Commissioners in Punjab have been directed to ensure that action should be taken against newspapers which violate the provisions of Section 95 Cr.P.C. However newspapers have yet not received copies of the fresh instructions. The Chief Minister Beant Singh in his appeal to the press had asked it to assist the government in the implementation of its statutory and moral obligations and avoid publication of such news items which incite encourage or glorify violence or votaries of violence. In the same breath he re-affirmed his faith in freedom of the press but urged the print media to evolve a voluntary and self-regulating approach as to what should be published and what should not be published keeping the nation’s interest is uppermost.

The government obviously did not convey the messages that it was putting newspapers under censorship so far as the publication of militant’s threats were concerned. But the way copies of newspapers carrying a statement by killers of the AIR engineer M.L. Manchanda were seized amounted to censorship what the government terms guidelines to the press are in fact and practice executive orders against the publication of what it does not want to be published.

A copy of the instructions has been sent to Deputy Commissioner Chandigarh by the Punjab Governor and Administrator of the Union Territory to enforce the provisions of the Section 95 of the Cr.P.C. on the Indian Express Jansatta and the Tribune group of newspapers. Copies of one edition of the Indian Express were seized by the Chandigarh authorities under this section. Similar actions were also taken against some other newspapers.

The copies of six dailies published from New Delhi were seized by the authorities here while the local dailies of the Tribune and Express groups were censored.

The seizure and censoring were recorded to prevent circulation of a Babbar Khalsa International statement issued in connection with the killing of the officiating station director of the Patiala station of the AIR Mohan Lal Manchanda

Executive magistrates of the Chandigarh Administration seized the copies of four English and two Hindi dailies from various newspaper agents in the city as soon as these arrived from Delhi. The newspapers are Thee Hindu, The Hindustan Times The States man The Patriot (all English) and Navbharat Times and newspapers are The Hindu The Hindustan Times The Statesman The Patriot (all English) and Navbharat Times and Hindustan (both Hindi).

The front page report of Manchandas body being found in The Tribune carried a note portions of this report have been removed by government censors beside a half column of blank space with the word censored on the last page.

The Indian Express was however allowed to partially carry the statement of the Babbar Khalsa International and the blank space after the first paragraph was inscribed with the word censored.

Article extracted from this publication >> June 12, 1992