[Act No. 55 of 1955] [29th December, 1955] An Act
further to amend the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. BE it
enacted by Parliament in the Sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows. (1)
This Act may
be called the Press and Registration of Books (Amendment) Act, 1955. (2)
It shall
come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in
the Official Gazette, appoint. In the long
title of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (XXV of 1867)
(hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), after the word
"books" occurring in both the places, the words "and newspapers'
shall be inserted. In the
preamble to the principal Act, for the words "every book printed or
lithographed in India and for the registration of such books", the words
"every book and newspaper printed in India and for the registration of
such books and newspapers" shall be substituted. In section
1 of the principal Act, (a)
in the
definition of "book", the words "or lithographed" shall be
omitted; (b)
after the
definition of "newspaper", the following definitions shall be
inserted, namely. ' "Paper" means any document, including a newspaper, other
than a book; "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the Central
Government under section 20A; "Press Registrar" means the Registrar of newspapers for India
appointed by the Central Government under section 19A and includes any other
person appointed by the Central Government to perform all or any of the
functions of the Press Registrar; "printing" includes cyclostyling and printing by lithography; "Register" means the Register of newspapers maintained under
section 19B.'. Section
4 of the principal Act shall be re-numbered as sub-section (1) of that
section and after sub-section (1) as so re-numbered, the following sub-section
shall be inserted, namely. "(2) As often as the place where a press is kept is changed, a new
declaration shall be necessary: Provided that where the change is for a period not exceeding sixty days
and the place where the press is kept after the change is within the local
jurisdiction of the Magistrate referred to in sub-section (1), no new
declaration shall be necessary if- (a)
a statement
relating to the change is furnished to the said Magistrate within twenty-four
hours thereof; and (b)
the keeper
of the press continues to be the same." In section
5 of the principal Act, (a)
in the
declaration contained in rule (2), for the words "and printed or
published, or printed and published", the words "and to be printed or
published, or to be printed and published" shall be substituted; (b)
after rule
(2), the following rule shall be inserted, namely. "(2A) Every declaration under rule (2) shall specify the title of
the newspaper, the language in which it is to be published and the periodicity
of its publication and shall contain such other particulars as may be
prescribed."; (c)
to rule (3),
the following proviso shall be added, namely. "Provided that where the change is for a period not
exceeding thirty days and the place of printing or publication after the change
is within the local jurisdiction of the Magistrate referred to in rule (2), no
new declaration shall be necessary if- (a)
a statement
relating to the change is furnished to the said Magistrate within twenty-four
hours thereof; and (b)
the printer
or publisher or the printer and publisher of the newspaper continues to be the
same."; (d)
in rule (4),
for the words "shall leave India", the words "shall leave India
for a period exceeding thirty days" shall be substituted; (e)
after rule
(4) and before the proviso, the following rules shall be inserted, namely. "(5) Every declaration made in respect of a newspaper shall be
void, where the newspaper does not commence publication- (a)
within six
weeks of the declaration, in the case of a newspaper to be published once a
week or oftener; and (b)
within three
months of the declaration, in the case of any other newspaper, and in every
such case, a new declaration shall be necessary before the newspaper can
be published. (6)?? Where, in any period of
three months, any daily, tri-weekly-weekly, bi-weekly, weekly or fortnightly
newspaper publishes issues the number of which is less than half of what should
have been published in accordance with the declaration made in respect thereof,
the declaration shall cease to have effect and a new declaration shall be
necessary before the publication of the newspaper can be continued. (7)?? Where any other newspaper
has ceased publication for a period exceeding twelve months, every declaration
made in respect thereof shall cease to have effect, and a new declaration shall
be necessary before the newspaper can be re-published. (8)?? Every existing declaration
in respect of a newspaper shall be cancelled by the Magistrate before whom a
new declaration made and subscribed in respect of the same:". In section
6 of the principal Act, (a)
after the
first paragraph, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely. "Provided that where any declaration is made and subscribed under
section 5 in respect of a newspaper, the declaration shall not, save in the
case of newspapers owned by the same person, be so authenticated unless the
Magistrate is satisfied from such inquiry as he thinks fit to make from the
Press registrar or otherwise that the newspaper proposed to be published does
not bear a title which is the same as, or similar to, that of any other
newspaper published either in the same language or in the same State."; (b)
after the
third paragraph, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely. "A copy of the declaration attested by the official seal
of the Magistrate shall be forwarded to the Press Registrar.". In section
8 of the principal Act, (a)
for the
first paragraph, the following paragraph shall be substituted, namely. "If any person has subscribed to any declaration in respect of a
newspaper under section 5 and the declaration has been authenticated by a
Magistrate under section 6 and subsequently that person ceases to be the
printer or publisher of the newspaper mentioned in such declaration, he shall
appear before any District, Presidency or Sub-divisional Magistrate, and
make and subscribe in duplicate the following declaration. 'I, A.B., declare that I have ceased to be the printer or publisher or
printer and publisher of the newspaper entitled----------------------'."' (b)
after
the fourth paragraph, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely. " A copy of the latter declaration attested by the official seal of
the Magistrate shall be forwarded to the Press Registrar." In section
9 of the principal Act, the words "or lithographed" wherever
they occur shall be omitted. After section
11A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely. "11B.Copies of newspapers to be delivered to Press Registrar. Subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, the publisher of
every newspaper in India shall deliver free of expense to the Press Registrar
one copy of each issue of such newspaper as soon as it is published.". In section
13 of the principal Act, for the words "without making such a
declaration as is required by section 4 of this Act", the words "in
contravention of any of the provisions contained in section 4 of this Act"
shall be substituted. In section
14 of the principal Act, for the words "any declaration", the
words "any declaration or other statement" shall be substituted. After section
15 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely. "15A.Penalty for failure to make a declaration under section 8.- If any person who has ceased to be a printer or publisher of any
newspaper fails or neglects to make a declaration in compliance with section 8,
he shall, on conviction before a Magistrate, be punishable by fine not
exceeding two hundred rupees.". After section
16A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely. "16B.Penalty for failure to supply copies of newspapers to Press
Registrar. If any publisher of any newspaper published in India neglects to deliver
copies of the same in compliance with section 11B, he shall, on the complaint
of the Press Registrar, be punishable, on conviction by a Magistrate having
jurisdiction in the place where the newspaper was printed, by fine which may
extend to fifty rupees for every default.". In section
18 of the principal Act, in item (12) of the particulars, for the words
"or lithographed", the words "cyclostyled or lithographed"
shall be substituted. After Part V
of the principal Act, the following Part shall be inserted, namely. "PART VA REGISTRATION OF NEWSPAPERS 19A.Appointment of Press Registrar and other officers. The Central Government may appoint a Registrar of newspapers for India
and such other officers under the general superintendence and control of the
Press Registrar as may be necessary for the purpose of performing the functions
assigned to them by or under this Act, and may by general or special order,
provide for the distribution or allocation of functions to be performed by them
under this Act. 19B.Register of newspapers. (1)
The Press
Registrar shall maintain in the prescribed manner a Register of newspapers. (2)
The Register
shall, as far as may be practicable, contain the following particulars about
every newspaper published in India, namely. (a)
the title of
the newspaper; (b)
the language
in which the newspaper is published; (c)
periodicity
of the publication of the newspaper; (d)
the name of
the editor, printer and publisher of the newspaper; (e)
the place of
printing and publication; (f)
the average
number of pages per week; (g)
the number
of days of publication in the year; (h)
the average
number of copies printed, the average number of copies sold to the public and
the average number of copies distributed free to the public, the average being
calculated with reference to such period as may be prescribed; (i)
retail
selling price per copy; (j)
the names
and addresses of the owners of the newspaper and such other particulars
relating to ownership as may be prescribed; (k)
any other
particulars which may be prescribed. (3)
On
receiving information from time to time about the aforesaid
particulars, the Press Registrar shall cause relevant entries to be made in the
register and may make such necessary alterations or corrections therein as may
be required for keeping the register up-to-date. 19C.Certificates of registration. On receiving from the Magistrate under section 6 a copy of the
declaration in respect of a newspaper, the Press Registrar shall cause relevant
entries to be made in the register in respect of the newspaper and
shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, issue a certificate of
registration in respect of that newspaper to the publisher thereof. 19D.Annual statement, etc., to be furnished by newspapers. It shall be the duty of the publisher of every newspaper- (a)
to furnish
to the Press Registrar an annual statement in respect of the newspaper at such
time and containing such of the particulars referred to in sub-section (2) of
section 19B as may be prescribed; (b)
to publish
in the newspaper at such times and such of the particulars relating to the
newspaper referred to in sub-section 92) of section 19B as may be specified in
this behalf by the Press Registrar. 19E.Returns and reports to be furnished by newspapers. The publisher of every newspaper shall furnish to the Press
Registrar such returns, statistics and other information with respect to any of
the particulars referred to in sub-section (2) of section 19B as the Press
Registrar may from time to time require. 19F.Right of access to records and documents. The Press Registrar or any gazetted officer authorised by him in writing
in this behalf shall, for the purpose of the collection of any information
relating to a newspaper under this Act, have access to any relevant record or
document relating to the newspaper in the possession of the publisher thereof,
and may enter at any reasonable time any premises where he believes such record or
document to be and may inspect or take copies of the relevant records or
documents or ask any question necessary for obtaining any information required
to be furnished under this Act. 19G.Annual Report. The Press registrar shall prepare, in such form and at such time
each year as may be prescribed, an annual report containing a summary of the
information obtained by him during the previous year in respect of the
newspapers in India and giving an account of the working of such newspapers,
and copies thereof shall be forwarded to the Central Government. 19H.furnishing of copies of extracts from register. On the application of any person for the supply of the copy of any
extract from the register and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, the
Press Registrar shall furnish such copy to the applicant in
such form and manner as may be prescribed. 19I.Delegation of powers. Subject to the provisions of this Act and regulations made
thereunder, the Press Registrar may delegate all or any of his powers under this
Act to any officer subordinate to him. 19J.Press Registrar and other officers to be public servants. The Press Registrar and all officers appointed under this Act
shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section
21 of the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860). 19K. Penalty for contravention of section 19D of section 19E, etc. If the publisher of any newspaper- (a)
refuses or
neglects to comply with the provisions of section 19D or section 19E; or (b)
furnishes or
causes to be furnished to the Press Registrar any annual statement, returns,
statistics or other information which he has reason to believe to be false; or (c)
publishes in
the newspaper in pursuance of clause (b) of section 19D any particulars
relating to the newspaper which he has reason to believe to be false, he shall
be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees. 19L.Penalty for improper disclosure of information. If any person engaged in connection with collection of information
under this Act willfully discloses any information or the contents of any
return given or furnished under this Act otherwise than in the execution of his
duties under this Act or for the purposes of the prosecution of an offence
under this Act or under the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860), he shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with
fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.". In section
20 of the principal Act, after the words "make such rules", the
words and figures "not inconsistent with the rules made by the Central
Government under section 20A" shall be inserted. After section
20 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely. "20A.Power of Central Government to make rules. (1)
The Central
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules- (a)
prescribing
the particulars which a declaration made and subscribed under section 5 may
contain; (b)
prescribing
the manner in which copies of any declaration attested by the official seal of
a Magistrate may be forwarded to the Press Registrar; (c)
prescribing
the manner in which copies of any newspaper may be sent to the Press Registrar
under section 11B; (d)
prescribing
the manner in which a register may be maintained under section 19B and the
particulars which it may contain; (e)
prescribing
the particulars which an annual statement to be furnished by the publisher of a
newspaper to the Press Registrar may contain; (f)
prescribing
the form and manner in which an annual statement under clause (a) of section
19D, or any returns, statistics or other information under section 19E, may be
furnished to the Press Registrar; (g)
prescribing
the fees for furnishing copies of extracts from the register and the manner in
which such copies may be furnished; (h)
prescribing
the manner in which a certificate of registration may be issued in respect of a
newspaper; (i)
prescribing
the form in which, and the time within which, annual reports may be prepared by
the Press Registrar and forwarded to the Central Government. (2)
All rules
made under this section shall, as soon as practicable after they are made, be
laid before both Houses of Parliament.". After section
21 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely. "22. Extent. This Act extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and
Kashmir.".PRESS AND
REGISTRATION OF BOOKS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1955
PREAMBLE