Amid the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (August 3) passed a bill that replaces the existing legislation which governs the registration of the print and publishing industry in the country. The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023 was passed by a voice vote. The bill was presented by Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur.
Speaking about the bill he said this would make it easier for media and publishing enterprises to do business, simplify the registration process, and decriminalise certain colonial-era penal prohibitions. He noted that the bill advances from bureaucratic burden to ease of doing business. ''Those involved in terrorist activities or unlawful activities against the state will not be granted permission to start a paper or periodical,'' he said.
Key features of the bill
- The bill replaces the existing Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867
- The bill seeks to simplify the registration process for periodicals and do away with the provision for the prosecution and imprisonment of publishers
- The bill seeks to bring transparency and ease of doing business. It will also provide for a simple process that will help small and medium publishers
- The new legislation seeks to repeal two clauses that required publishers and printers to file a declaration with the District Magistrate
- It seeks to repeal the punitive sections of the PRB Act that make improper declaration of information a chargeable infraction punishable by up to six months in prison
- The new will move the process of checking title availability online, thereby reducing the time required for registration of newspapers and periodicals significantly
- A person who has been convicted by any court for an offence involving a terrorist act or illegal activity, or who has done anything against the security of the state, will not be entitled to publish a periodical
- The bill required every state government to keep a Catalogue of Books with specific information about books printed in India.
- The bill also provides for an appellate authority. The Appellate Board (Press and Registration Appellate Board) will consist of chairperson of Press Council of India (PCI), and two members of PCI to hear an appeal against refusal of grant of registration, imposition of any penalty or suspension/cancellation of registration by PRG.
How the new bill is different from the existing Act?
In the existing Act, only the District Magistrate (DM) has the right to cancel the declaration of a periodical, while the Press Registrar General (PRG) did not have suo motu powers to cancel or suspend the Certificate of Registration granted by it. However, the proposed bill gives the authority to PRG to suspend or cancel the registration.
Books, which were part of the PRB Act of 1867, have been removed from the scope of PRP Bill 2023 because they are administered by the Ministry of Education. As per the existing trend, the printing presses will not have to file any declaration before the District Magistrate. The new bill required only an online intimation to be filed before PRG and DM.
In comparison to the PRB Act 1867, which carried heavy penalties resulting to conviction and imprisonment for up to six months for numerous infractions of the Act, the statute has been significantly decriminalised.
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