Rajasthan Patrika Blocks Raje News Until Ordinance Is Repealed

Its editorial stated that the Rajasthan government referring the ordinance to a select committee was just a ruse.

Rajasthan Patrika said it won’t report any news related to the state’s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Leading Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika announced on 1 November that it will not report any news related to the state’s Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje or her government until it repeals the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance which seeks to protect serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants in the state from being investigated for on-duty action, without its prior sanction.

In a scathing editorial, Editor-in-Chief Gulab Kothari wrote:

With its black law, the Rajasthan government is giving a tough competition to the dark days of Emergency.

Also Read: Rajasthan HC Issues Notice to Centre, State On Immunity Ordinance

The article stated that the Rajasthan government referring the ordinance to a select committee was a ruse, as the ordinance was still in effect and to prove their vulnerability, if a journalist wants to test it out and name any government officer, then he may be behind bars for two years.

The controversial legislation put forward by the Raje government also proposes to ban the media from naming the public servant until the government allows for an investigation, violating which amounts to two years’ imprisonment.

“Look at the travesty of law!” the editorial read, pointing out the illegality of the way the bill was tabled in the Assembly. “Law beckons, if the state makes amendments in the same central law, then two Ordinances can not come together, whereas the two bills were presented together here. The second bill without any discussion and debate also reached the committee on October 25.”

In fact, two laws were passed in the Vidhan Sabha session which started from 23 October 23. The first of them is Rajasthan Penalties Amendment Bill, 2017 (Bhadansan) and second is CRPC Code of Criminal Procedure, 2017.

“What is the solution to rid the body of this nuisance…the elections are far away…there can be a lot of damage in the meantime…this is a question of democracy, of expression, of people’s opinions,” the editorial said, adding, “until then this Rajasthan journal will publish any news on Vasundhara Raje.

Also Read: Journalists March to Rajasthan Assembly Against New Ordinance

Since the start of 2016, the Rajasthan government did not release any advertisements to Rajasthan Patrika.

(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT to find #PollutionKaSolution. Send in your suggestions to [e-mail] or WhatsApp @ [phone])