NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday appeared to sympathise with journalists under attack from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for publishing critical articles.
Speaking to reporters before embarking on his tri-nation tour, Vajpayee said he had not spoken to Jayalalithaa but hinted that she had crossed the line.
“Everybody should respect the Lakshman Rekha (the equivalent of Rubicon),” he said, when asked to comment on the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker’s order on Friday to arrest six journalists, including five from The Hindu .
Jayalalitha moved to sue the journalists for defamation after the Supreme Court heard the journalists’ appeal and stayed the arrest order, holding the principles enshrined in the Indian constitution supreme.
Later, Vajpayee, who is known for his wit, sought to lighten up the angry media fraternity that has declared war against what they believe is Jayalalithaa’s bid to muzzle a free press.
As he boarded Air-India One, he walked into the midst of accompanying journalists remarking in Hindi: “Lagta hai Jayalalithaa aapse naraaz hai! (It seems Jayalalithaa is angry with you)!”
He was referring to the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s move to sue journalists of The Hindu newspaper for defamation, after the Supreme Court stayed an order by the assembly speaker to arrest six journalists over editorials critical to the ruling AIADMK party.
The prime minister’s eyes twinkled as he grinned at the scribes inside the luxury aircraft, waiting for a response.
Then Vir Sanghvi, editor of the Hindustan Times , shot back, also in Hindi,” We too are angry with her!”
Journalists in New Delhi and across India have rallied around their persecuted colleagues and launched protests against the Tamil Nadu government since Friday when the speaker gave the arrest order
The world is also run by the likes of Bush, Cheney and the Queen Mum cupcake. A reality check however is in order. We are a dictatorship. Thats old. Lets discuss india now. The newspaper is being taken to court. The journalists have already spent time in jail, which wouldnt have happened under a real democracy.
Anyway latest news or what not. The court will decide. It actually depends if the court decides to do what is right or currys favor with the political party. Btw where does the judge have his leanings? Everybody knows there is no seperation of powers in any third world country so which side does he bat for?
The newspaper has been taken to court. Yes that is true, no one can be beyond the law. Point out on democratic country where newspapers have not been sued.
The journalists have not spent even one minute in jail. Check your facts.
On what basis is your statement maligning the Supreme Court? Please see the last few Supreme Court decisions especially in the cases of Gujarat privatisation etc, where the Court has batted for the Common Man, and not the government. At least take effort to do some research and not some broad general statement based on your assumptions.
I think the real test of a democracy is whether the due process of law is allowed to take its course. I think this has strengthened the democratic credentials of the Indian State.
shameful for both countries.. both are ranked below congo, Iraq and Rwanda..Djibouti, Burundi etc ...
[/QUOTE]
Yes I agree Fraudia. Aside from all the political bickering we have to look at why South Asian countries as a whole have such low rankings in terms of press freedom. There is no doubt that the world renowned 'Reoprters without Borders' are a strictly neutral group, with no bias in favour of any country. They state in their introduction that:-
**To compile this ranking, Reporters Without Borders asked journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists to fill out a questionnaire evaluating respect for press freedom in a particular country. A total of 166 countries are included in the ranking (as against 139 last year). The other countries were left out because of a lack of reliable, well-supported data. **
Now out of the 166 countries they ranked, the figures for the South Asian countries are as follows:-
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by CM: *
The world is also run by the likes of Bush, Cheney and the Queen Mum cupcake. A reality check however is in order. We are a dictatorship. Thats old. Lets discuss india now. The newspaper is being taken to court. The journalists have already spent time in jail, which wouldnt have happened under a real democracy.
Anyway latest news or what not. The court will decide. It actually depends if the court decides to do what is right or currys favor with the political party. Btw where does the judge have his leanings? Everybody knows there is no seperation of powers in any third world country so which side does he bat for?
[/QUOTE]
Say that again? Where does it say that the journalists spent time in jail? There is a difference between arrest order and jail for heavens sake!!!!! Are you really that ignorant of democratic procedures?
The SC, Apple darling, has NO LEANING except towards justice. Or it wouldn't have STAYED the arrest order and CONDEMNED the TN govt!!!! Phew, the time I have to spend explaining simple facts of life to you!
This is probably the best thing that could have happened - this might just prove to be the final nail in Motilalitha's coffin. And you're right TT, this has strengthened our credentials!:)
Faced with intimidatory tactics by the State Police, The Hindu has sought the protection of Central security forces for the institution and all those employees who required it.
New Delhi Nov. 10. The Supreme Court today stayed the warrants issued by the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for the arrest of the Editor and four others of The Hindu and the Editor of the Tamil daily, Murasoli. The warrants had been issued in pursuance of a resolution passed by the Assembly on November 7 sentencing them to 15 days simple imprisonment for breach of privilege of the House.
A Bench of Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice S.B. Sinha in its brief order said: “Issue notice on the writ petitions as also on the applications for ad interim ex-parte stay, returnable after three weeks. Meanwhile, there will be stay of warrant issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu against the petitioners and the respondents, their officers, agents and counterparts in any State of India shall be restrained from executing the warrants issued by the Speaker of the Assembly. Notice shall also be issued to the Attorney-General for India.”
The matter will come up for further hearing on December 8.
The four representatives of The Hindu other than Mr. Ravi who had filed the petition are: the Executive Editor, Malini Parthasarathy, Publisher, S. Rangarajan, Chief of Bureau, Tamil Nadu, V. Jayanth, and Special Correspondent, Radha Venkatesan.
Following a request from senior counsel for the petitioners, Harish Salve and Kapil Sibal, that the order be communicated by fax to the Director-General of Police, Tamil Nadu, the Bench asked the Registry to forthwith intimate about the order of stay to the DGP. The Registry carried out the direction accordingly.
Besides the Speaker, the respondents to whom notice was issued included: the Secretary, Tamil Nadu Assembly; the State Home Secretary, the DGP, Tamil Nadu; the Deputy and Assistant Police Commissioners, Triplicane Police Station, Chennai; the Chief Secretary, Karnataka; the Bangalore City Police Commissioner; and the Delhi Police Commissioner.
The resolution passed by the Assembly on November 7 said that an editorial published in The Hindu on April 25, 2003 was written in a manner that caused breach of privilege of the action of the Assembly Speaker who was the custodian of the Assembly, as well as the action of the Privileges Committee and in the process imputed ulterior motives to the House as a whole. The resolution held that the Editor, Mr. Ravi, and four others of The Hindu and the Editor of Murasoli, S. Selvam, had committed a punishable offence of breach of privilege of the House. It sentenced them to undergo 15 days simple imprisonment.
Mr. Salve, appearing for Mr. Ravi and four others, argued that the powers of the State Legislatures under Article 194 of the Constitution must be read in harmony with fundamental rights as envisaged in Article 19 (1) (a) (freedom of speech and expression) and Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) and could not be construed as authorising any authority of the State to arrest and detain a person.
To a question from the Bench on the extent and scope of judicial review, he said the question here was whether the power of the legislature under Article 194 (3) could be higher than the powers conferred on citizens under Article 19 (1) (a) and whether the legislature could enforce penal powers on the citizens without giving them sufficient opportunity to be heard. He cited various decisions of the apex court that had clearly held that the power of privilege of the Legislature would have to be harmonised with the fundamental rights of citizens.
Mr. Salve contended that the resolution was based on a complete misreading of law and facts by the House, however widely one were to construe the privilege of the House. He submitted that no person who had understood constitutional law correctly could ever come to a conclusion that the articles and the editorial were intemperate and amounted to lowering the dignity or breach of privilege of the House. He argued that the articles merely described the utterances of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa inside the House and these in no way interfered with the proceedings of the House, warranting any punishment for the journalists. Mr. Salve argued that the adjectives used by media could not be a breach of privilege.
Appearing for Murasoli Selvam, senior advocate Kapil Sibal contended that his client’s newspaper had merely reproduced the editorial that appeared in The Hindu and this could not be construed as interference with the proceedings of the House.
“If it is a criticism of a political party, it does not amount to breach of privilege,” he said. On the question of cancellation of passes to cover the proceedings in the Assembly for the newspaper as a whole, Mr. Sibal said that the House could not do it as it would be violative of the fundamental right to equality guaranteed under Article 14.
He said that at best the House could cancel the pass of the reporter or correspondent concerned who had written the article in question but could not deny an entire news organisation the facility to cover the proceedings of the House. However, since the Tamil Nadu Assembly was not in session, the Bench said it would consider this aspect later.
The Bench permitted senior counsel P. Chidambaram to file applications to intervene in the matter on behalf of the Chennai Press Club, the Madras Union of Journalists and the Journalists Action Group.
NEW DELHI Nov. 10. The Centre will seek a report from the Tamil Nadu Governor on the events relating to the Assembly sentencing six senior journalists of The Hindu and Murasoli, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, gave this assurance to a delegation of Opposition members from Tamil Nadu, who met him here today to express unhappiness over the events. "Whatever the authorities in Tamil Nadu have done cannot be justified,‘’ Mr. Vajpayee said.
Mr. Vajpayee is said to have told the team that in the Indian system of checks and balances, no wing could arrogate to itself the right to overturn this arrangement. He justified the Supreme Court’s intervention and expressed happiness over the solidarity exhibited by the media.
The 57-member team of legislators from nine political parties, barring the BJP, sought the Prime Minister’s immediate intervention to “protect the legitimate rights and liberty, to stop the dictatorship and end the abuse of power by the AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu.”
The actions of the Tamil Nadu Assembly posed a direct challenge to the freedom of the press and the functioning of democratic institutions, they said.
The delegation stopped short of demanding the dismissal of the State Government but said it had cited enough reasons for invoking Article 356. "The silence maintained by the Union Government perhaps emboldens the Jayalalithaa regime to abuse power,‘’ the delegation said.
In a memorandum presented to Mr. Vajpayee, the legislators said the sentence of 15 days simple imprisonment imposed by the Assembly on the Editor, the Executive Editor, the Publisher, the Chief of News Bureau and a Special Correspondent of The Hindu for publishing an editorial on April 25 was unprecedented and atrocious.
“What is shocking further is that S. Selvam, editor of Murasoli, was also punished with 15 days imprisonment for merely publishing a translation of The Hindu editorial.”
The other allegations made against the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, were the misuse of the Assembly for political ends and of the Essential Services Maintenance Act by chargesheeting legislators under the Act for sympathising with the cause of striking Government employees.
The State Government ruthlessly and mercilessly dismissed en masse more than 1.7 lakh Government employees without adopting a proper procedure or conducting any inquiry, they pointed out.
The Opposition also raised the issue of arrest of the MDMK leader, Vaiko, and the Nakkeeran Editor, R.R. Gopal, under POTA and the arrest of the DMK leader, M. Karunanidhi.
Describing these as “tyranny and oppression unleashed by the AIADMK Government”, the Opposition members said that unless the Centre, which was conferred the power to defend and protect the legitimate rights and liberty of the people, came forward with a great sense of responsibility and constitutional obligation, peace and tranquillity in the State would be in peril.
`Good for democracy’
Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, described as “good for democracy” the stay on the arrests of the scribes, when the delegation met him this morning. He hoped that the Supreme Court’s directive would strengthen democracy. “As a former journalist, I have always valued a free press and feel sad and unhappy when the freedom of the press is opposed,” he said.
The delegation, comprising members from the DMK, the Congress, the PMK, the CPI, the MDMK, the DPI, the CJP and the MGR Kazhagam, was led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, K. Anbazhagan.
Elected? You seriously believe the CE was elected fairly? I as a pakistani dont believe that i am surprised you do.
Now this is a developing country based on humans thus any action is open to hmaun failure and error, moral or otherwise. It applies to all developed countries including your beloved India. First they are put in jail, then they are brought before the court of defamation. The question is can they even take the news paper to court?
If the story was/is factual and correct then ok. All that the paper said according to the BBC article is that the news paper used adjectives to describe a discussion. Thats defamation?
This is the supreme court right? Its run by humans correct? And how are they suddenly immune from political leans and biases?
Look simply put: They should not have got a warrant to enter the newspapers headquarters neither should the legislature have taken any such action. Correct?
The actions were dictatorial. Not that of a democracy.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by CM: *
This is the supreme court right? Its run by humans correct? And how are they suddenly immune from political leans and biases?
Look simply put: They should not have got a warrant to enter the newspapers headquarters neither should the legislature have taken any such action. Correct?
The actions were dictatorial. Not that of a democracy.
[/QUOTE]
You talk you have never heard or seen any Supreme Court work without bias. Where are you from anyway? Sometimes people do rise above their petty selves.....
Well, the point is that such a measure si required to prevent misuse by the press, but then, they too have legal recourse, so that is a safeguard. I fully agree that the TN govt should not have taken panga with the Hindu, but then the CM, Jayalalitha is a total Psycho character. That could explain the attitude of the legilsature. Yes unfortunately she has demonstrated the weakness of absolute majority in a democracy.
But then, the point is that there is a system in place to fight such misuse, and that is something I am proud of....
[QUOTE]
This is the supreme court right? Its run by humans correct? And how are they suddenly immune from political leans and biases?
[/QUOTE]
do u want divine intervention then. dear CM i think u have come down directly from heaven. what do u beleive in?.u have to either beleive in ppl's power which u don( I can call an apple a apple stuf), or u have to beleive in laws( which i presume u dont from the language u used to reply me) or u have to beleive the people who deliever. u doubt even that.
this is what is called in english as hypocrisy.
besides ur definition of democracy " democracy is freedom" is laudable. this is the first time iam hearing that sort of definition. all along i had thought freedom of expression is jus a part of democracy n equally u have the duty of giving responsible views.