India is a country with the largest democracy in the world. The freedom of press is inherent within the term of “Freedom of speech and expression” guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. This freedom though not absolute still it includes right to express or publish or propagate the views of the people in a lawful way. Here the utility of press/ media comes. Being the voice of the mass the press is obviously playing a very vital role in the society. It is there for assistance in the discovery of true facts of any incident, strengthens the capacity of an individual in participating in decision making and most importantly it provides a mechanism by which it would be possible to establish a reasonable balance between stability and social change.
Considering the importance of the press- media it is regarded as the fourth pillar of the democracy. We know India is a quasi-federal state where there is a constant tendency of overlapping among the three organs of the Government, i.e. executive, legislature and judiciary. Though we all accepted the freedom of press and consider this organ is very essential for a democratic state yet now a day it is frequently seen that the “Right of freedom of Press” has been oppressed and Government remains inactive. As it is true that Government has no monopoly over electronic media at the same time it is also a fact that Government should play an activist role to protect the press from any kind of serious threats while they unveiling any truth regarding any particular incident. It is the duty of the Government to ensure security of the media houses in a democratic country like India, otherwise the stability of a Government become at stake and the true essence of the preamble of our Constitution cannot be achieved as well.
Post Contributed by:
Soumya Pratik Dutta
Indian Institute of Legal Studies
