Ministry of Information forms committee and plans to make the repealed provision of the Printing, Presses and Publications Act, 1973 re-effective

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) expresses grave concern over the Government’s plan to make the widely discussed repealed section of Presses and Publications Act 1973 on termination of publication of newspaper through executive order re-effective.

It has been known through various news media that, with the District Administration Conference ahead, there has been a proposal to give the District Administration the authority regarding termination of newspaper publication by making provision of Presses and Publications Act 1973 re-effective, and the Ministry of Information has formed a committee regarding this matter. According to the news sources, the committee formed by the Ministry of Information has already begun the evaluation of the laws regarding information and publication, and based on the committee’s opinion, the Ministry will evaluate this matter. It is noteworthy that from 1974 to 1991 the Act was used to terminate publication of newspapers and after prolonged protests it was repealed by the Caretaker Government led by Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed in 1991.

In our opinion, 

the step to terminate publication of newspapers by executive order is against the basic right and constitutional assurance of freedom of Press. For the same reason we believe that re-inclusion of this article to the Presses and Publications Act would make it a formal weapon to hinder the freedom of media severely.

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) strongly urges the Government to refrain from this move against the Constitution and  freedom of media.