New Delhi, (UNI): Delhi High Court has observed that the government should think of changing the outdated law enacted by the British India relating to publication of newspapers in India.
''It is for the government to consider whether such outdated norms embodied in the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867, which are reflective of the expression of the imperial power of the ruler over printers and publishers of newspapers, ought to remain on the statute book,'' said Justice Mukul Mudgal while hearing a petition filed by the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India.
''The provisions reflect a colonial mindset which appears to be an anachronism in the contemporary democratic era in which the freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution and is one of the pillars of the Indian Democracy,'' Justice Mudgal said.
According to the Section 5 (2) of the Act, the printer and publisher of a newspaper is to appear in person or through an agent before a Magistrate for the declaration in respect of publication of a newspaper and every change carried out in relation to the newspaper.
The petition was filed by the institute against Union Government, DCP (Press Licensing), Registrar of Newspapers of India, Living Media Ltd, Printer and Publisher Anil Mehra and Thompson Press India Ltd to comply with the provisions of the Act.
Mehra on behalf of the Living Media India Ltd was printing and publishing ''The Chartered Accountant'' magazine for the Institute at the Thompson Press, a subsidiary of the Living Media.
The dispute arose when the Institute ordered for the printing of the magazine at Spenta Multimedia in Mumbai.
