The Press Council of India has adopted a report urging the Union government to introduce a national law for the security and protection of journalists.

The report – Arrests, Wrongful Detentions and Intimidation of Media Personnel – on the arrests and wrongful detention of journalists in the country has been authored by Press Council member Gurbir Singh. It was adopted by the council on September 27 and a copy was shared with Scroll on Thursday.

The report was adopted with a dissent note from its chairperson, former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

The Press Council is a statutory, adjudicating body established in 1966 and operates as per the provisions of the Press Council Act, 1978.

The report makes three broad recommendations to the Union government, the foremost being “the need to promulgate a national law for the security and protection of journalists”.

It also asks that “more teeth” be given to the Press Council of India Act “so that the watchdog body is better equipped to meet the increasing challenges and threats faced by the Fourth Estate”.

The Press Council currently can only issue advisory orders that are not enforceable. These do not work as deterrents for unscrupulous elements who may want to browbeat or intimidate press persons, Singh said in the report.

The report also calls for “sensitising police personnel and codifying norms of behaviour for law enforcement agencies towards the Fourth Estate”.

For instance, before detaining or arresting a journalist, a law enforcement agency should be mandated to verify with the editor or publication if the concerned journalist is on assignment, the report suggests.

Singh has called for “a serious training programme for government personnel from the most senior level down to the junior-most constable to sensitise and generate respect for the constitutional rights and obligations of news networks, agencies and news persons”.

“Five journalists were killed and 226 others were targeted by state agencies, non-state political actors, anti-social elements and criminals across India during 2023,” the report says, citing data from the India Press Freedom Annual Report released on May 3, on World Press Freedom Day.

Singh also points out that, according to private surveys, the Indian news organisations are functioning under “severe constraints”. India was ranked 159 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index 2024, it points out.

“Giving a breakdown of the numbers, the report, released by the India Freedom of Expression Initiative, an alliance of press freedom NGOs, said while 148 journalists were targeted by state actors, 78 journalists were targeted by the non-state actors including political leaders, activists and criminals,” it notes.

The report also details several cases and complaints that have been placed before the press body for examination, such as the Newsclick case in which the Delhi Police on October 3, 2023, raided the homes of 86 persons associated with the news portal. Of these, 61 persons were journalists. The portal’s founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and its human resources head Amit Chakraborty were arrested in the raids.

“Similarly, journalists of The Caravan magazine who were covering the Delhi riots in August 2020 were charged with ‘inciting communal violence’,” the report points out.

While the report has been adopted by the council, its Chairperson Ranjana Prakash Desai recorded a note of dissent.

In it, Desai questioned the methodology of the French non-governmental organisation Reporters Sans Frontiers, which publishes the World Press Freedom Index.

“The ranking methodology is questionable and the Press Council of India, in past, has raised its concern about the authenticity and credibility of such reports prepared and published by RSF,” Desai’s dissenting note reads.

She said that “the authenticity and reliability of the India Press Freedom Annual Report…by the India Freedom of Expression Initiative, an alliance of press freedom NGOs needs to be looked into”.

Desai said that since the Press Council has contested the ranking of India on the World Press Freedom Index 2024, “this portion of Shri Gurbir Singh’s communication is not acceptable as it contradicts Press Council’s stand”.

Desai also objected to several cases detailed in Singh’s report as they did not contain the view of the law enforcement authorities.