The Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly passed the ‘Chhattisgarh Mediapersons Protection Bill 2023,’ which aims to protect mediapersons and prevent violence against them.
The Need for the Bill
The bill is aimed at preventing violence against mediapersons discharging duty in Chhattisgarh and ensuring protection to properties of media persons and media institutions. He added that acts of violence can cause injury or danger to the life of mediapersons and damage and loss of property of mediapersons or media institutions, leading to unrest in the state.
Eligibility for Registration
The bill has defined a ‘mediaperson’ and laid down eligibility for registration of mediapersons under this law. A media person living in Chhattisgarh and having at least one year of experience in journalism will be eligible for registration under this law. The bill states that a person who has published six articles or news as a writer or co-writer in a media institution on current incidents in the last three months or a person who has received a minimum of three payments from media organizations for compiling news in the last six months is also eligible for registration.
Composition of the Committee
The government will constitute a committee, known as the ‘Chhattisgarh Media Freedom, Protection and Promotion Committee,’ within 90 days of the enactment of the Act, which will act as the authority for the registration of media persons. The Chairman of the committee will be a retired administrative/police service officer not below the level of secretary rank in the state government. An officer of the Prosecution Branch nominated by the Home Department, who is not less than the rank of Joint Director and three media persons having an experience of more than ten years in journalism, and at least one of them shall be a woman.
Penalties and Fines
The law also provides that any public servant found violating rules laid down under this law shall be punished with an appropriate fine after a departmental inquiry. If a private person causes violence, harassment, or intimidation of a mediaperson, the committee, after examining the case and hearing both parties, can impose a penalty of Rs 25,000 against the perpetrator. Similarly, if any company is the cause of intimidation, torture, or violence of a mediaperson, then a fine of Rs 10,000 will be imposed after examining the case and hearing of both parties by the committee. If any person tries to create hindrances in the registration of eligible mediapersons, then a penalty of Rs 25,000 will be imposed on the concerned person after hearing of both parties by the committee. If any media person furnishes false information to the committee, the registration of the concerned mediaperson can be canceled for the first time, and for the second time, the mediaperson can be punished with a maximum penalty of Rs 10,000.
