NEW DELHI: Faced with severe criticism over its move to intervene in a case in the Supreme Court over the curbs on communication in Jammu and Kashmir, the Press Council of India has decided to tell the apex court that it does not approve of any sort of restriction on the media and will give a detailed reply after its fact-finding panel submits a report.
The Council made its stand clear even as top media bodies such as the Editors Guild, Press Association, Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), Indian Journalists Union, Working News Cameramen's Association and the Press Club of India, asked it to withdraw its application seeking intervention in the petition filed by Anuradha Bhasin, Executive Editor of Kashmir Times.
A group of PCI members had raised questions over the Council’s move, saying they were not taken into confidence before or after the action by the media watchdog’s chairman and retired Supreme Court Justice CK Prasad.
The Editors Guild of India has raised concerns that the Press Council has argued for clampdown of media citing ‘national interest’.
“The guild urges the Press Council to objectively ascertain the trying circumstances in which the press is working in Jammu and Kashmir and lend its moral and institutional weight to help ease the restrictions that stand in the way of fair and accurate reporting,” the statement said.