NEW DELHI: The Press Council of India censored four vernacular dailies Aaj Dainik Jagaran Swatantra Chetna and Swatantra Bharat for “gross irresponsibility and impropriety” in covering the events relating to the Ayodhya incidents of October 30 and November 2 last year.
The council also expressed serious concern over the Uttar Pradesh state government’s decision to take recourse to punitive and preventive action against newspapers and reporters “in excess of the demands of the situation”.
“If newsmen are arrested or search and seizure operations become necessary it would be a healthy convention were it to be mandated that such developments must be reported to the press council within 24 to 48 hours followed by a detailed note within a “week” the council said in a report
Article extracted from this publication >> February 8, 1991
