NEW DELHI, August 19: It had to happen sooner or later the Supreme Court has issued notices on a petition questioning the publication of "titillating material" in the name of right to freedom of speech and expression enjoyed by the Press. Notices have been issued to the Union Government, the Press Council of India, the Times of India, Hindustan Times, the Press Trust of India (PTI) and the United News of India (UNI).
A three-judge bench comprising the Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti, Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan issued notice after the petitioner drew the court's attention to publication in the Times of India and Hindustan Times of allegedly obscene photographs, articles on pornography, SMS jokes and sex education, categorised to be viewed only by adults.
Neither of the two newspapers have quite reacted as boldly to the Supreme Court notice. Both, the Times of India and Hindustan Times, underplayed the notice, preferring to carry reports by the Press Trust of India, rather than any their own legal (or otherwise) correspondents. Smaller rivals, however, did with news items that bordered on opinions. The Pioneer wrote: "Mass-circulated national newspapers that write freely of sex in keeping with today's cosmopolitan India that no longer treats this three-letter word as taboo could end up getting classified in the same manner as films are."
The Deccan Herald was more direct with its opinionated intro: "A public interest litigation in the Supreme Court on Thursday raised a newsworthy, and pertinent, question: Should daily newspapers with sexually explicit material be given an A’ rating for carrying content that in a film would see the Censor Board restrict it to adult viewing only?" Its distant cousin, the Asian Age, however, desisted from any veiled sarcasm.
Hello cupcakes! And how are you today? Considering that this is perhaps the only space tailormade for your taste that is, catering to the pristine and pure minds of all under-18s in this country we thought it fit to let you know about something in our usual gentle and informative manner. A very nice man by the name of Ajay Goswami has filed a public interest litigation against two newspapers, including this one, to protect all of you from bad things.
Mr Goswami has brought it to the Supreme Court's notice that newspapers today are publishing all sorts of titillating material whether it be SMS jokes, articles on pornography, sex education and adult movies. Being readily available for consumption to minors whose guardians have failed to tuck these dailies away on the top shelf, children like you are constantly exposed to harmful and disturbing material. Thankfully, the Supreme Court has reacted to Mr Goswami's concern and issued notices to the erring dailies. What the nice man wants is newspapers to be classified as Adult (A) and Universal (U), so that under-18s are shielded from the naughty, filthy adult world.
There will be some grown-ups who will argue that all that the child or, for that matter, Mr Goswami, has to do is to turn the offending pages. But dearies, you know how tempting it can be to read that smut and gawk at the bodice-ripping lady sprawled across the page? In any case, like Mr Goswami, we, in this sacred and pure corner of this page, know that you would rather learn about the economy of our wonderful country, flower shows, electoral figures and ghastly poetry. Wouldn't you, munchkins, wouldn't you?
August 20, 2005
The petitioner, Ajay Goswami, said his petition involved substantial questions of law of private and public importance on the fundamental right of citizens regarding freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Goswami said he was aggrieved that the freedom of speech and expression enjoyed by newspapers was not balanced against protection of children from harmful and disturbing material.
He said the Times of India and Hindustan Times are virtually vying with each other to give maximum material for titillation in their locally circulated supplements Delhi Times and HT City purportedly to cater to the needs of youngsters, much to discomfort of the elderly people in families. These two papers, under a special campaign, have enrolled school children as their subscribers through their school principals, he pointed out.
The petitioner said that with the advent of commercialism and a zeal to promote circulation, numerous attempts were being made to cater to prurient interest of the public at large. The newspapers were publishing titillating material, whether the article was a piece of art, information, or worthier reading. "At times the photographs accompanying them are certainly distasteful. The jokes published are vulgar, cheap and are only meant to titillate the grey cells in the brain. All this is certainly not in the interest of physical and psychological well-being of minors," he argued.
Goswami insisted that it was the duty of the government to protect minors from exposure to unwanted material circulated through the media since India was a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Notwithstanding the regulations framed by the Press Council of India, he said, the Press was continuing to publish material that catered to the prurient interest of the public at large. "Newspapers should be labelled, boldly declaring whether they carry material dwelling on matters relating to sex, which may not be suitable for minors or any other person," the petitioner said.
Goswami said that though the news published was regarding beauty pageants, literary works, artistic and scientific work, the accompanying photographs and graphics were "obscene". The standard of classifying anything as "only for adults" or "obscene" had been laid down on the basis of what an average person would find obscene, he said. "No standards have been laid down for minors." The petitioner felt that the rules and regulations framed by the Press Council of India were inadequate since they did not deal with minors and were only advisory and not binding on newspapers.
The Press Council is vested with certain powers as per the Press Council Act, 1978 and to carry out the aims and objectives of the Act, the Union Government is empowered to make the rules on the subject. The council is also vested with the power to make regulations for the purpose sought in the petition, the petitioner said.
