CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Administration Jan 16 imposed a blanket ban on printing objectionable material in an apparent bid to stop publication of statements of various militant outfits in local newspapers.
Police has been authorised to raid and seize such objectionable material and violation of the order made actionable under the code of criminal procedure.
Following the notification the administration swung into action Wednesday night and officials accompanied by a police party visited the offices of the local Tribune group of publications and Indian Express.
A statement of the Militants was removed from the three publications of The Tribune. The three publications on Thursday carried a note by the editor-in-chief which said: the news item which was to be carried in this space has been stopped under the instructions of the union territory administration.
The authorities also thoroughly checked all the Editions of the Indian Express and Janata (Hindi edition of Indian express) published from here before allowing them to be dispatched.
The Shiromani Akali Dal headed by Simranjit Singh Mann accused the government of censoring news in Punjab and Chandigarh Ina press release the party said it was against press censorship and stood for a free and unbiased press.
A spokesman of the Chandigarh administration however said the government had not imposed any press censorship but only made publication of objectionable material actionable under the law.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 25, 1991
