[14
of 2023] [02nd
June 2023] An Act to provide for the
prevention of violence against Media Persons while carrying out their duties as
Media Persons and prevention of damage or loss of property of Media Persons or
Media Institutions in the State of Chhattisgarh and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto. Whereas acts of violence
causing injury or danger to life of Media Persons and damage or loss to the
property of Media Persons or Media Institutions which may create unrest in the
State; And Whereas it has become
necessary to provide for the prevention of violence against Media Persons and
prevention of damage or loss of property of Media Persons or Media Institutions
from such violent activities, and for the matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto; Be it enacted by the
Chhattisgarh Legislature in the Seventy-Third Year of the Republic of India, as
follows :- (1)
This bill may be called the Chhattisgarh
Protection of Media persons Act, 2023. (2)
It shall extend to the whole of the State of
Chhattisgarh. (3)
It shall come into force from the date of its
publication in the Official Gazette. (a)
"Committee", means the Committee
for Protection of Media persons constituted under provisions of Section 8 of
this Act; Chhattisgarh Media freedom, Protection and Promotion Committee. (b)
"Emergency Protection Measures"
means immediate actions, initiatives and security measures to deal with
harassment, intimidation or violence against a media person, who requires
Protection as per necessity before a Protection Plan can be formulated. (c)
"Government" means the Government
of Chhattisgarh; (d)
"Mass Media" means any means of
communication used regularly for purposes of dissemination of information and
expression of views and opinions, including, print media such as newspapers,
magazines and journals; audio-visual media, such as radio, community radio,
satellite television news channels and news portals registered under any rules
& regulations framed by the Government. (e)
"Media Institution" means any
Newspaper Establishment, News Channel Establishment, News-based Electronic
Media Establishment or News Station Establishment or, news portal
establishments registered under any rules and regulations framed by the
Government and are professionally engaged in the collection, processing and
dissemination of information, views & opinion to the public as well as
collection and communication of public opinion; (f)
"Media person" an employee or
representative of a Media Establishment and includes an editor, a writer, news
editor, subeditor, feature writer, copy-editor, reporter, correspondent,
cartoonist, news-photographer, video journalist, translator, intern/trainee
media person and news gatheres or a freelance journalist eligible to be
accredited as freelance journalist under prevailing media person accreditation
rules of the Government. (g)
"News gatherer", means every
person, including a stringer or an agent, regularly involved in collecting and
forwarding news or information to Media persons or Media Establishments; (h)
"Accredited Journalist" means a
media person who is accredited by the State Government under prevailing
accreditation rules with a purpose to facilitate the collection of news /
information. (i)
"Media Person Who Requires
Protection" means any Registered Media person facing threats of harassment,
intimidation or violence while discharging his proffessional duties and his
technical support staff, drivers, interpreters, Outside Broadcasting Van
operators and all other persons facing threats of harassment, intimidation or
violence by act of a person on account of their connection with the Registered
Media person; (j)
"Protection Plan" means a plan
formulated by the committee for protection of the mediaperson; (k)
"Protection Measures" means
actions, initiatives and security measures aimed at dealing with threats of
violence, intimidation or harassment to a Media Person Who Requires Protection; (l)
"Prescribed" means prescribed by
rules made under this Act; (m)
Harassment - Harassment means any action,
physical or verbal, against a media person discharging his professional duties,
that may cause physical or mental distress to him, which, hinders or obstructs
him, from performing his professional duties. (n)
Intimidation - As defined in the Indian Penal
Code. (o)
Violence - Violence means physical harm or
attempted physical harm to media persons or their property as a consequence of
discharging their professional duties. (p)
"Public Servant" shall have the
same meaning as defined in Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; (q)
"Register of Media persons" and
"register" means a register maintained in terms of Section 3 of this
Act; (r)
"Registered Media person" and
"registered as a Media person" means every person registered under
Section 3 of this Act. (1)
Government shall maintain a Register of Media
persons in the prescribed manner (2)
The Register shall be a public document under
Section 74 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. (3)
The Register shall be published on the
website in the manner prescribed for this purpose (4)
Additions, deletions or alterations to the
Register along with the effective date of such decision shall be reflected on
the website within thirty days from the date of decision (5)
Every person who is eligible under Section 4
of this Act shall be eligible for registration as a Media person. (a)
a person with at least six articles/news
related to current affairs affiliated to or authored or co-authored on his name
has been published by media institution in the preceding three months from the
date of application for such registration; or (b)
person who has received at least three
payments from Media institution for compilation of news in the preceding six
months; or (c)
person who has taken photographs related to
current affairs that have been published by media institution at least three
times in the preceding three months; or (d)
person accredited by the Government as a journalist;
or a media person fulfilling the eligibility criteria for accreditation as
journlist as per prevailing media person accreditation rules of the Government. (e)
person certified by a Media Institution as
being employed by it as a Media person as defined in section 2 (j) of this Act. Provided that no employee of
government/ semi government/ board/ corporation/ organisations which are wholly
or partially funded by the government can claim for registration as media
person on the basis of publication of their articles in newspapers or
magazines. (1)
The committee constituted for the protection
of the media person shall act as the authority for registration of media
persons. (2)
The Authority shall be competent to take a
decision on:- (a)
all applications received for registration as
a Media person, (b)
all applications for renewal of registration
as a Media person,and, (c)
additions, deletions or alterations entries
in the Register. (3)
The Authority shall meet in accordance with
the prescribed rules and convene a meeting at least once every three months
compulsorily. (4)
Registration under this Act will not confer
any benefits or entitlements other than those expressly provided in this Act. (1)
The Government shall, under rules framed
under this act, prescribe the procedure for application to register as Media
person, decision of the authority on the application and communication of
authoritys decision to the media person. (2)
Every media person whose application for
registration has been accepted shall be given a registration number, in the
manner prescribed (3)
Such registration shall be valid for two
years from the date of registration for accredited media persons and one year
for non accredited media persons and shall be renewable for the same period. Provided that the Media
person qualifies for registration under Section 4 on the date of the
application for renewal (4)
No media person shall have the right of
automatic renewal of registration. (1)
The Authority shall have the power to cancel
the registration of a media person and strike-off his/her name from the
Register if, it comes to the conclusion, that the registration was erroneous or
was done as a result of material mis-representation, suppression of facts or
fraud. (2)
Action to cancel registration and delete
names from the Register may be taken suo moto or on the basis of credible
information received: Provided that no such action
shall be taken without giving notice and opportunity of hearing to the
concerned Media person in the manner prescribed. Registration shall be
provisionally suspended till conclusion of enquiry. (1)
The Government shall, within Ninety days, of
the notification of this Act in the Official Gazette, constitute a Committee,
for the Protection of Media persons who require protection, and, to deal with
complaints of harassment, intimidation or violence, or unfair prosecution and
arrests of media persons. This committee shall be known as Chhattisgarh Media
freedom, Protection and Promotion Committee. (2)
The Committee shall comprise of: - (a)
Retired officer of Admistrative/ Police
Service, and not below the rank of secretary in the Government ; Chairperson. (b)
Officer of Prosecution wing nominated by home
department, not below the rank of joint director (c)
A Government Servant, not below the rank of
Additional Director, nominated by the Government ; member secretary (d)
Three Media persons having more than ten
years of continuous experience in the field of journalism, of whom atleast one
shall be a woman. Provided that, such nominated
Media persons are registered under this Act; Further provided that, the
tenure of the Committee will be for three years and no member shall be
nominated to the Committee for two consecutive terms. (1)
The objective of formation of the committee
shall be to upkeep the freedom and maintain and improve the standard of mass
media by providing protection to mediapersons_ (2)
The Committee may, in furtherance of its
objectives, perform the following functions, namely:- (a)
to provide protection to the Media Persons
against harrassment, intimidation or violence related with their profession. (b)
any other responsibilities assigned by the
Government from time to time. (a)
summoning and enforcing the attendance of
persons and examining them on oath; (b)
Disclosure and inspection of documents; (c)
receiving evidence on affidavits; (d)
requisitioning any public record or copies
thereof from any court or office; (e)
issuing commissions for the examination of
witnesses or documents; and (f)
any other matter, which may be prescribed. (1)
All Government authorities and persons employed
by the Government shall provide with all information called for by the
Committee unless the information is protected from disclosure by law. (2)
The Government shall provide all necessary
assistance to the Committee in discharging its duties. (3)
The committee shall have the power to
recommend emergency protection measures and protection plan to the
Superitendent of Police of the district concerned who inturn will take
appropriate decision as per extant provisions of prevailing
Act/Rules/Regulations. (1)
Where the Committee is prima facie of the
view that it is necessary: (a)
For allegations or investigations against a
mediaperson demanding protection, or, (b)
In relation to an ongoing investigation,
inquiry or trial involving a mediaperson demanding protection; or, (c)
the material produced before it otherwise
required ; it shall direct the
Superintendent of Police of district concerned to supervise the investigation
and submit a report within 15 days. (2)
If the district superintendent of Police, in
consultation with the district prosecution officer, is of the opinion that the
case is fit for withdrawal from prosecution, it shall recommend the same to the
committee which in turne shall forward its report to the State Government
requesting to take necessary action for withdrawal of prosecution. (1)
(a) Whoever, being a public servant, wilfully
neglects his duties under this Act or the rules made under this Act, shall be considered
to be in violation the of conduct rules governing them and shallpunishable by
the State Government for misconduct after proper departmental inquiry under
chhattisgarh civil services (classification, control & appeal) Rule 1967 or
any other rule and may be awarded suitable punishment under the said rules
after due opportunity of hearing. (b) If the person behind
harrassment, intimidation or violence is a private individual, the Committee
after examination of complaint and providing opportunity of hearing to both the
parties shall be punished with the penalty which may extend to twenty five
thousand Rupees which shall be recoverable as an arrear of land revenue; (2)
Whoever prevents or obstructs, actively or in
any way, the registration of a person entitled to registration as a Media
person under this Act after providing opportunity of hearing to both the
parties shall be punished by the committee with penalty which may extend to
Twenty Five thousand rupees which shall be recoverable as an arrear of land
revenue (3)
Notwithstanding anything contained in
sub-section (1) and (2), no punishment shall be made against any member of the
Authority under this Section for anything done or purported to be done by them
in the discharge of his official duties; Provided, nothing contained
in this section shall render any person liable to punishment if he proves that
the misconduct was committed with out his knowledge or was done inadvertently (1)
If the person behind harrassment, intimidation
or violence is a company the Committee after examination of complaint and
providing opportunity of hearing to both the parties shall be punished with the
penalty which may extend to ten thousand Rupees. Provided that, nothing
contained in this section shall render any person liable to punishment, if he
proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had
exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence: Provided further that, where
a person is nominated as a Director of a company by virtue of his holding any
office or employment in the Central Government or State Government or a
financial corporation owned or controlled by the Central Government or the
State Government, as the case may be, he shall not be liable for punishment
under this Section. (2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in
sub-section (1), where any misconduct under this Act has been committed by a
company and it is proved that the misconduct has been committed with the
consent or connivance of or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any
director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director,
manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that
misconduct and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished. Explanation.-For the purposes
of this section,- (a) "Company" means any corporate body and includes
a firm or other association of individuals; and (b) "Director", in
relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm. Provided further that, for
any complaint being heard by the committee, and if, for the same complaint, any
First Information Report is registered under relevant provisions of any act and
taken under investigation, the committee shall not take any punitive action. (a)
to do or omit anything which such member of
committee or public servant ought not to do or omit if the true state of facts
respecting which such information is given were known by him, or (b)
to use the lawful power of such member of
committee or public servant to the injury or annoyance of any person, Committee
on investigating the complaint finds it false, such media person shall be
punished by Commitee by cancellation of registration for first time and for
second time with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees . (1)
Media persons shall be nominated to the
Committee from the registered Media persons by the state Government (2)
Persons nominated under this Act shall be
removed by the Government on the basis of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. (3)
All Bodies constituted under this Act shall
endeavour to take all decisions unanimously: Provided that, where bodies
constituted under this Act are unable to reach unanimity, decisions shall be
taken by the majority. (4)
Where potential conflict-of-interest arises
in a persons discharge of obligations under this Act, he shall inform the
chairperson, convener or member secretary of the body concerned and take no
further part in the decision in question. All the decisions taken by the
committee will be null and void if any incidence of such nature comes to
knowledge of the committee or the Government (5)
The Government shall maintain a website which
will contain information regarding registered media persons, applications
received for registration and decision taken, complaints received, action taken
on complaint and decision of the committee etc. (1)
If any difficulty arises in giving effect to
the provisions of this Act, the Government may, by order published in the
Official Gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act, as may appear to be necessary for removing the difficulty. Provided
that no such order shall be made under this section after expiry of three years
from the commencement of this Act. (2)
Every such order made under this section
shall be tabled before the legislative assembly. (1)
The Government may, within six months from
the enactment of the Act, by notification in the Official Gazette, prescribe
Rules for enforcing the provisions of this Act. (2)
Without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such Rules may provide for all or any of the following
matters, namely,- (a)
Nomination Process of committee members; (b)
Form for Registration as a Media person; (c)
Form of Register of Mediaperson and details
to be stipulated; (d)
Manner of communication of the decision to
accept or reject applications for registration; (e)
Form of notice before cancelling registration
of membership; (f)
Guidelines for the formulation of Protection
Plan by the committee, with standard operating procedures for protection
measures and/or emergency protection measures. (g)
Appilication format for registering complaint
from media person. (h)
Process and format for accepting, rejecting
or resolving the complaint from media person. (i)
Process and Procedure for conducting enquiry. (j)
Any other matter necessary for the proper
enforcement of this Act. (3)
Rules framed under this act shall be tabled
before the legislative assembly not later than 12 months from their publication
in the Official Gazette.The Chhattisgarh
Protection Of Media Persons Act, 2023
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
Persons, residing and practising journalism in Chhattisgarh, and having at
least one year of experience in journalism and fulfilling the below mentioned
conditions shall be eligible for registration as a Mediaperson:
The emoluments, allowances/honorarium and other facilities to the committee
members shall be determined by the Government.
For the purpose of performing its functions or holding any inquiry under this
Act, the Committee shall have the same powers throughout the state as are
vested with the civil court while trial of a suit under the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the following matters, namely:-
False information, with intent to cause public servant as any other member of
the committee to use his lawful power to the injury of another person :- if a
registered media person misuses protection provided under this act, to give to
member of committee or any public servant any information which he knows or
believes to be false, intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely
that he will thereby cause, such member of committee or public servant
The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in contravention of
the provisions of any other law, rule, regulation, policy decision,
instruction, circular or office memorandum operating for the benefit of Media
persons or providing better standards for the protection of Media persons than
provided under this Act.
The Government shall monitor the implementation of this Act and shall gather
and maintain data on complaints made, information received, and actions taken
under this Act.
No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the
Government or any officer or authority of the Government or any other person
for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
Appeal against penalties and any other action of the committee shall be made to
the prescribed authority designated by the Government for this purpose.