Press Note

File No. 17/31/12-13                                                                                                      14th March, 2013

                                                                         O R D E R 

         I have received a letter dated 13/3/2013 from Shri  Anil Aggarwal, member, Press Council of India, that there was an attack by throwing acid on one Shri Dinesh Choudhary , Parbhani reporter of the newspaper, Dainik Sholapur  Tarun Bharat,   Sholapur, Maharashtra by five persons, which resulted  in injuries to Shri Choudhary, his wife and daughter who are being treated in hospital.

       It is alleged that this attack was because a news item was published in Dainik Tarun Bharat about large scale illegal sale of gutka, which is banned in Maharashtra. It is further alleged that  for quite sometime journalists in Maharashtra have been physically attacked by such criminal, but  no effective action was taken against the latter because of apathy on the part of the authorities.

        In my opinion this is a serious violation of the freedom of the Press guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a)  of the Constitution which the Press Council of India is mandated to protect.

        I, therefore, hereby constitute a one member Committee, consisting of  Shri Anil Aggarwal, Member, Press Council of India, who is requested to thoroughly investigate into the matter and thereafter submit a report to me at the earliest  for further action.

      The Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and other concerned authorities of Maharashtra, including the District Magistrate and SSP, Parbhani are requested to extend all co-operation and support to Shri Anil Aggarwal to facilitate this inquiry.  They shall extend all the facilities to Shri Anil Aggarwal for this purpose, including transportation, boarding, lodging etc.

       Further the Chief Minister, Maharashtra and Chief Secretary are requested to personally look into the matter with all seriousness and submit a report to me at the earliest, after consulting with Mr. Anil Aggarwal.  This report shall be in addition to the report submitted by Shri Anil Aggarwal.

                                                                                                              

                                                                                                               (Justice Markandey Katju)

                                                                                                                              Chairman

Copy to: 

A)    Shri Anil Aggarwal, Member, Press Council of India

B)      

1)Chief Minister of Maharashtra

2) Chief Secretary Govt. of Maharashtra, Mumbai

3) Secretary (Home), Govt. Of Maharashtra, Mumbai

4) Secretary, Information Department, Govt. of Maharashtra, Mumbai

5) Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India ,New Delhi,

6) District Magistrate, Parbhani, Mahashtra 

7) SSP, Parbhani, Maharashtra 

8) All the members of the Press Council of India

9) All the News agencies and newspapers

                                                                                         (Justice Markandey Katju)

                                                                                                           Chairman