MEDIA AND POLITICAL ISSUES

ASSIGNMENT

Legal Control and Mechanisms over Electronic

Media in India: An Overview.

Name: Atreya Raghavan

Course: B.A (Honours) Political Science, Semester V.
Student ID: 20174372
Submitted to: Professor Naved Jamal,
Department of Political Science.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 3

BROADCASTING AND TELECOMMUNCATION

LAWS IN INDIA ............................................................... 4

FILM LAW IN INDIA ....................................................... 6

MECHANISMS TO REGULATE ADVERTISING IN

INDIA ................................................................................. 7

CONCLUSION .................................................................. 8

REFERENCES ................................................................... 9

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INTRODUCTION

The media is often described as the fourth pillar of democracy, and in this sense, it is not possible for
democracy to flourish without it. The media is that bridge that connects the government of a country to the
common man, and helps the common man to take part in the political process more effectively by ensuring
his/ her voice is heard.
As of March 2018, there were a total of 17,573 newspapers and 1,00,666 periodicals registered in India. 1 In
about 33 different language, the most popular being English, Hindi and Urdu. 2India is the largest democracy
in the world, one that is very diverse in terms of religions, cultures, languages, customs and traditions, as
well as in terms of distribution of wealth and resources as well as infrastructure and connectivity. In this
context, if we look at the population in terms of distribution of wealth and resources, our attention is
naturally drawn to the level of access people have to basic literacy in rural as well as urban India. According
to the data available to us from the World Bank, as of 2018, 74% of the total adult population of India is
literate.3 However, for the remaining 26% of the people of India, while the number of newspapers in English
and other vernacular languages available to them is certainly large, it is of no use to them as they do not
have access to basic literacy. In this context, the electronic media industry in India has certainly grown leaps
and bounds, enabling the common man, even if he does not have basic literacy to obtain access to
information regarding important events and people alike. The electronic media has provided this particular
strata of society as well as the wider general population of the country with a platform to make their voice
heard and enabled them to more effectively take part in the democratic process. Considering its wide reach
even in the remotest of areas in the country as well as the kind of impact it has on everyday trends, be it
political, social, cultural or economic, it becomes very important to understand the kind of control and
regulation it is subjected to by the government and analyse whether or not it is enough to enable it to fulfil
its role of being the fourth pillar of democracy.
The media, whether viewed in the Indian context or even otherwise, faces a couple of issues which are
almost universal in nature. The first and the most major issue being that in certain nations (Including India
till a point in time), it is subjected to heavy regulation in the form of censorship and total government control
in the sense that no private entities are allowed to enter this field. The second issue is that many news outlets
are still subjugated or bribed and used by political parties and business houses for their own selfish ends.
This is done in the form of hiding or presenting the people with wrong facts so as to tilt the public’s opinion
in one’s favour or to present a negative image of rival political parties, religious communities or business
houses. In this sense, it is used to create frenzy and feelings of anger and contempt in the minds of people,
and it is on these feelings in the minds of people that different political/ non-political entities bank on to gain
their own selfish ends.
Having mentioned the above social and political context, the assignment attempts to briefly sum up the
different ways in which the media is regulated in our country by the government.

1http://rni.nic.in/all_page/press_india.aspx
2http://www.mospi.gov.in/statistical-year-book-india/2016/205
3https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?locations=IN

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BROADCASTING AND TELECOMMUNCATION LAWS IN INDIA

The most significant day in the history of media law in India can be said to be the 26th of January 1950, the
day the constitution of India was enacted. The colonial experience made the framers of the constitution
realize the significance of the freedom of the press in India. It was therefore incorporated in article 19 (1) of
the constitution under the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression. Though the constitution does not
explicitly mention the freedom of the press, it is implicitly implied under this article. The media is however
also subject to certain reasonable restriction under subsection 2 of article 19 in the interest of the general
public.
The Government of India had a monopoly on the broadcast media, before the 1991 reforms. This monopoly
can be traced back to the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, which states that the government has exclusive
rights to establish and operate telegraphs in India. The subsequent amendments to this same act came to
include most modern communication devices, and stated that the term includes telephone, mobile,
television, radio as well as video equipment. Whereas the traditional telegraph depends on electricity and
most modern communication devices depend on radio waves, the act includes all such communication
devices under the ambit of the term telegraph. 4
The Broadcasting Code was a set of cardinal principles to be followed by the media and is of prime
importance so far as laws regarding the broadcast media are concerned. It was adopted at the Asian
Broadcasting Conference in 1962. Although developed solely for the All India Radio at first, it gradually
encompassed all broadcasting organizations prevalent in India 5. The principles mentioned in this code relate
to ensuring an objective manner of presenting news and unbiased content, to promote the advancement of
education and culture, to maintain decency and decorum in all programmes, to inculcate good citizenship, to
promoting communal harmony, religious tolerance as well as international understanding and to to respect
human rights and dignity6.
Television and Radio in India were completely under the ownership of Indian government, and the first time
the possibility of freeing them from its control was discussed in 1966 through the Chanda committee. In the
post emergency period,a number of committees were constituted for the same in the subsequent years- the
Verghese Committee of 1978, and the Joshi Committee, which pit thrust on the freedom of the press for
nation building.
Accordingly, In the post liberalization period of the 1990s, “the Prasar Bharati Act was passed which
provided for the establishment of a broadcasting corporation of India, also known as PrasarBharati. It is
India’s largest government owned broadcasting agency, and is a statutory autonomous body. It came into
being on the 23rd of November, 1997, and carries out its work through the All India Radio and Doordarshan,
both of which earlier worked under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
However in 1995, in a landmark judgement in Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v. The
Cricket Association of Bengal, (The case was regarding whether or not the Cricket Association of Bengal

4https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/19633/7/07_introduction.pdf0
5https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/136687/9/09_chapter%202.pdf
6https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/136687/9/09_chapter%202.pdf

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had the rights to grant exclusive telecast rights to a private agency rather than to Doordarshan.) the Supreme
Court instructed the central government to establish an independent autonomous authority to control and
regulate the use of airwaves, one that was representative of all sections of society. This was necessary since
the kind of diversity of opinions and ideas that prevailed in the Indian society, could not be adequately
represented by a medium which was monopolised by the government, as private broadcasting agencies
would better enable the people to enjoy their right to freedom of speech and expression. 7
The Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, also passed in 1995 made it mandatory for cable television
network operators to be registered. In addition to this, the government in the interest of the public could
make it obligatory for each cable operator to transmit or retransmit a programme of any pay channel through
an addressable system. The government could also make it mandatory for any free-to-air channels to be
included in the basic service tier package of channels. The government could specify the amount the
maximum amount a cable operator could charge a subscriber for receiving programmes in the basic service
tier. Lastly under this act, all cable operators must compulsorily retransmit Doordarshan channels 8.
In the post liberalization period, In Delhi Science Forum v. Union of India, the Supreme Court while
deciding the constitutionality of the National Telecom Policy felt the need for an independent statutory
regulatory body in the telecommunication industry with the entry of the private sector. Accordingly, the
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was established in 1997. Some of its mandatory functions included
making recommendations on the need for the introduction of a new service provider, on the terms and
conditions of license to a service provider, and to lay down standards of quality of service and conduct to be
followed by service providers 9.
The Government of India permitted the entry of DTH (Direct-To-Home) broadcasting services for the first
time in 2003. DTH refers to the distribution of multi-channel TV programmes by KU_-band through a
satellite system directly to the subscriber’s premises, eliminating the need for an intermediary such as cable
operators.

7http://www.indiatogether.org/uploads/document/document_upload/2140/blawcricket.pdf
8https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/cable-television-networks-regulation-

act#targetText=All%20cable%20operators%20shall%20compulsorily,interfere%20with%20authorized%20telecommunication%2
0systems.
9http://dot.gov.in/actrules/telecom-regulatory-authority-indiatrai-act-1997

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FILM LAW IN INDIA

India is one of the largest motion producers in the world. Film making encompasses three different
activities, namely- Content production, distribution and exhibition. The film industry has an all India spread,
providing thousands with employment and entertaining millions each year. There are various laws in force
regarding the production and exhibition of films in place.
The Cinematograph Act of 1952 is one of the most important laws in place. Under the provisions of this act,
the central government will constitute a board called the Central Board of Film Certification which is
responsible for the examination and sanctioning of films for public exhibition, either for all (U rated films)
or for adults only (A rated films) according to the content of the film. The Censor Board is also empowered
to not grant permission for certain films to be exhibited to the public as well, if it finds that the film goes
against the interests of sovereignty or national security of the country, friendly relations with foreign states,
public order, morality and decency, communal harmony or if it involves defamation or contempt of court.
The Cinematography Act was first challenged in K.A Abbas v. Union of India, wherein the petitioner in a
writ to the Supreme Court said that the Cinematography Act violated his Right to Freedom of Speech and
Expression, when the Central Censor Board asked him to remove a scene from a red light district for the his
film A Tale of Four Cities to be granted a U certificate. The Supreme Court however upheld the decision of
the Censor Board as according to it the pre censorship of films was justified as part of the reasonable
restrictions imposed on the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression in article 19 (2) of the Constitution
of India10.
The Copyright Act of 1957 is another landmark legislation relating to film production in India. According to
this act, a ‘copyright’ refers to the exclusive right to commercially exploit the original literary, dramatic,
artistic or musical work according to the owner of the said copyright. The act makes it a criminal offence to
sell, hire, distribute or possess any unauthorised recordings of an original work without the knowledge of the
owner. Furthermore it also states that making a copy of a film or to cause the film to be seen in public or to
communicate the film through radio diffusion a criminal offence. The Copyright Act was said to apply in a
number of important cases such as Caterpillar Inc. V. Kailash Nilani, Lachhman Das Behari Lal v. Padam
Trading Co, David Don Pandian v State of Tamil Nadu etc11.
The Cine Workers Act of 1981 sets the terms and conditions of employment, payment of wages as well as
other benefits such as provident funds of cinema theatre workers as well as artistes and workers employed in
the production and distribution of a particular film. Under this act, producers of feature films as well as
theatre owners before engaging any such cine workers were required to enter into a written agreement with
them and the said agreement must be registered with the competent authority. The act also prescribes
minimum wages for said workers and makes it compulsory or them to be provided with a provident fund as
well as gratuity fund12.
Another important act was the Cine Workers Cess Act of 1981 , which provided for the development of a
Cess Fund to ensure a steady flow of income for cinema workers as their employment is of an unpredictable

10 https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/abbas-v-india/
11 http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l195-Copyright-Law-in-India.html
12 https://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/cineworkcinemathwork/cwctw1981.html

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 and seasonal nature, in the sense that those involved in the production of films never know when or where
they might find work next13.

MECHANISMS TO REGULATE ADVERTISING IN INDIA

Advertising is the method of promoting the sale of certain goods and services used by private entities. It is a
mix of both visual arts as well as facts, one that is subservient to ethical principles. There is a need for
advertisements to be consumer oriented, in the sense that the facts it presents must be true, so as to not
mislead the consumer. If the facts presented in an advertisement are untrue, it might lead to loss of
credibility of the brand.
For the cause of encouraging and enforcing the cause of self regulation in advertising, the Advertising
Standards Council of India was established in 1985. It works towards ensuring the protection of consumers
and advertisers alike. The ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected to advertising-
Advertisers (ie- the producers of commodities), advertising agencies, Media (Broadcasters and the Press)
and other agencies such as PR Firms and Market Research Organizations. The ASCI was inspired by the
Advertising Standards Association (ASA) of the UK. It works towards the following ends-

• “ensuring truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made through advertising and safeguarding
against misleading advertising.”
• “ensuring that advertising is not offensive to generally accepted norms and standards of public decency.”
• “safeguarding against indiscriminate use of advertising for promotion of products or services which are
generally regarded as hazardous to society or to individuals or which are unacceptable to society as a whole.”
• “ensuring that advertisements observe fairness in competition and the canons of generally accepted
competitive behavior.”14

There are other legislations in place that affect the advertising space in India as well. The most important of
being the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Act of 1969. It deals with unfair trade practices such as false
representation of facts and misleading advertisements, false claims regarding prices, business promotion
strategies involving an element of deception etc. 15 However the act is currently not i n force in India and was
replaced by the Competition Act of 2002, which came into effect on September 1, 2009. It was passed to
promote healthy all round economic development in the Indian Market. It set up a commission prevent any
adverse effects of ill market practices of competition. In this sense, it works towards the promotion of and
sustaining healthy competition in the Indian market and to protect the interests of the consumers 16. It has
provisions to ensure that there is no false advertising of goods and services such that facts are
misrepresented and the consumer is misled. The act also works towards ensuring that no single dominant
player of the market in any given industry can deny smaller or newer producers access to the market or
manipulate the sales and prices of certain goods or services. It also ensures that the dominant player cannot

13

http://labour.ap.gov.in/ELabour/Documents/Acts/ExtractsOfCentalActAndRulesStateActAndRules/CineWorkersWelfareCessAct
1981.pdf
14 http://www.ibfindia.com/advertising-standards-council-india-asci
15 https://www.gktoday.in/gk/the-monopolies-and-restrictive-trade-practices-act-1970/
16 https://www.taxmann.com/blogpost/2000001715/the-competition-act-2002.aspx

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restrict the production or circulation of goods in the market or prevent any scientific developments relating
to the goods and services sold in a market.

CONCLUSION

As is evident, there certainly is a wide range of laws in place to regulate the electronic media such that it
functions in the best interests of the consumer. However, is such a tightly regulated media a bane or a boon
to democracy is a very pertinent question.
On one side, it is very important for the media to be allowed to function in a free and fair manner, such that
it can play an effective role as the fourth pillar of democracy. A platform which effectively enables the
common man to take part in the political process.
However, on the other hand, the electronic as well as the print media is plagued by a number of issues in the
Indian context.
While article 19 of the Indian Constitution implicitly states the freedom of the media in article 19 (1) of the
Indian Constitution, there is no separate provision that explicitly provides for the same. This makes it easy
for the freedom of the media to often be curtailed or misused for one’s own selfish ends.
Moreover, communications technology and infrastructure in India suffers from serious underdevelopment,
which also acts as a barrier in the sense that it leads to inefficiency as well as unequal distribution of
information amongst the people.
In the post liberalization period, with the entry of multiple private sector players in this field, there has also
been a growth in tendencies to sensationalize news in India and this often leads to feeding frenzies, wherein
people are often fed false and misleading facts vis a vis different events, policy decisions as well as persons.
This is done to maximise profit as well as well as create a dominant position for oneself in the industry.
Considering the above problems that plague the Indian media today, we can also view the laws and
mechanisms in place to regulate the electronic media in the government as necessary, as the industry has a
far reaching impact, and has the power to dictate political, economic, social as well as the cultural discourse
of the country.
The direction in which the Indian media is heading, as of today remain ambiguous, as there are massive
pros, as well as cons to the system already in place. Therefore, as long as long as there are no major reforms
or changes to the system, it is possible that it might sustain itself, but on the other hand, might also collapse.

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REFERENCES

• Office of Registrar of Newspapers for India, (2017-18), ‘Press in India Highlights’, retrieved from
http://rni.nic.in/all_page/press_india.aspx, accessed on 16-10-2019
• UNESCO Institute of Statistics, (2018), ‘Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)-
India’, retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?locations=IN accessed
on 16-10-2019
• Statistical Year Book India (2016), ‘Number of Registered Newspapers and Periodicals by Language
and Periodicity’, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India,
retrieved from http://www.mospi.gov.in/statistical-year-book-india/2016/205, accessed on 16-10-
2019
• Shodhganga, ‘Legal Control Over Electronic Media in India’, retrieved from
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2019
• Shodhganga, ‘Theoretical Background and Review of Literature’, retrieved from
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10-2019
• Narrain, S., ‘The airwaves as a public good review of a landmark judgment’, in Indiatogether.org,
Bangalore, retrieved from
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16-10-2019
• The Centre for Internet& Society, ‘Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, retrieved
from https://cis-india.org/telecom/resources/cable-television-networks-regulation-
act#targetText=All%20cable%20operators%20shall%20compulsorily,interfere%20with%20authoriz
ed%20telecommunication%20systems. accessed on 16-10-2019
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India (TRAI) Act 1997’, retrieved from http://dot.gov.in/actrules/telecom-regulatory-authority-indiatrai-
act-1997 accessed on 16-10-2019
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https://globalfreedomofexpression.columbia.edu/cases/abbas-v-india/, accessed on 16-10-2019
• Sunkar, MK, ‘Copyright Law in India’, in Legal Service India, retrieved from
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• Labour Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, ‘The Cine- Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1981’, retrieved
from
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ersWelfareCessAct1981.pdf accessed on 16-10-2019

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• Indian Broadcasting Foundation, ‘The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)’, retrieved
from http://www.ibfindia.com/advertising-standards-council-india-asci accessed on 16-10-2019
• GK Today(2015), ‘Monopolies and Restrictive trade Practices Act (1970)’, retrieved from
https://www.gktoday.in/gk/the-monopolies-and-restrictive-trade-practices-act-1970/ accessed on 16-10-
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• Taxmann, ‘The Competition Act 2002’, retrieved from
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