Law

&
Press
 What is Law?

Law is nothing
but codified
Common
Sense.
 Law
The Law is the organization of the natural
rights of lawful defense. It is the
substitution of a common force for
individual forces. And this common force is
to do only what the individual forces have
a natural and lawful rights to do: to protect
persons, liberties, and properties; to
maintain the right of each, and to cause
justice to reign over us all.
 Types of Law
• Religious/Natural

• Man Made
– Common Law
– Specific Law
 Types of Law

Common Laws Specific Laws

• Administrative
• Constitutional law law
• Criminal law • Contract law
• Tort law • Labour law
• Property law • Trust law
• Hindu Law
• Nationality law
• Mohammedan
law
• Christian Law
 Legal System & Democracy

Constitution

Legislation Executive Supreme Court

(Parliament/State (Ministry/Admini
Assemblies) stration/Police)
Indian Judiciary
• Supreme Court

• High Court

• Lower Courts/ Tribunal

 Supreme Court
• The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the land as established by Part V, Chapter
IV of the Constitution of India. According to the Constitution of India, the role of the
Supreme Court is that of a federal court, guardian of the Constitution and the highest court of
appeal. Articles 124 to 147 of the Constitution of India lay down the composition and
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India.
• The Supreme Court of India had its inaugural sitting on 28 January 1950, and since then has
delivered more than 24,000 reported judgments.
• Supreme court is not only the final court of permissible Appeal, but also deals with
interstate matters, and matters comprising of more than one state, and the matters
between the Union Government and any one or more states, as the matters on its
original side.
• The Appeals to this court are allowed from the High Court, only after the matter is
deemed to be important enough on the point of law or on the subject of the
constitution of the nation, and is certified as such by the relevant High Court. In the
absence of any certificate from the High Court, a person may, with the leave of the
apex court, appeal to this court, by filing a Special Leave Petition before the court.
• A person or body may also file a Writ (PIL) against the violation of Fundamental
Rights granted under the Constitution of India, with the permission of the apex court.
• Certain writs are allowed to be instituted in the apex court directly, against the orders
of the Courts of the Court Martial, and the Central Administrative Tribunals.
 High Court
• High Courts are instituted as constitutional courts under Part VI, Chapter V, Article
214 of the Indian Constitution.

• Every State has a High Court, which works under the direct guidance and
supervision of the Supreme Court of India, and is the uppermost court in that state,
and generally the last court of regular appeals.

• The High Courts are also termed as the courts of equity, and can be approached in
writs not only for violation of fundamental rights under the provisions of Article 32
of the Indian constitution, but also for any other rights under Article 226 of the
Constitution, and under its powers to supervise over all its subordinate courts falling
within the physical jurisdiction of the same under Article 227 of the Constitution. In
fact, when apparently there is no effective remedy available to a person in equity, it
can always move the High Court in an appropriate writ.

• All the High Courts have different division benches in different parts of the
respective states for speedier cheaper and effective dispensing of justice.

• For the purpose of disposal of its business, the Judges in the High Court, either sit
singly or in benches of two or more judges in benches for deciding more important
matters.
 Indian High Courts
Act
Court name Established Jurisdiction Seat Benches Jud.
established

Allahabad High Court 1866-06-11 High Courts Uttar Pradesh Allahabad Lucknow 95
Act, 1861

Andhra Pradesh High Court 1954-07-05 Andhra State Andhra Prade Hyderabad   39
Act, 1953 sh

Bombay High Court 1862-08-14 High Courts Maharashtra, Mumbai Nagpur, 60

Act, 1861 Goa, Dadra Panaji,
and Nagar Aurangabad
Haveli,
Daman and
Diu

Calcutta High Court 1862-07-02 High Courts West Bengal, Calcutta Port Blair 63
Act, 1861 Andaman and (circuit
bench)
Nicobar
Islands
 Indian High Courts
Chhattisgarh 2000-01-11 Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh Bilaspur   08
High Court Re-organisation
Act, 2000

Delhi High Cour 1966-10-31 Delhi High Court National Capital New Delhi   36
t Act, 1966 Territory of Delh
[2] i
Gauhati 1948-03-01 Government of Arunachal Guwahati Kohima, Aizwal 27
High Court[3] India Act, 1935 Pradesh, Assam, & Imphal. Circuit
Manipur, Bench at
Meghalaya, Agartala &
Nagaland, Shillong
Tripura,
Mizoram

Gujarat High C 1960-05-01 Bombay Re- Gujarat Ahmedabad   42

ourt organsisation
Act, 1960

Himachal 1971 State of H.P. Act, Himachal Shimla   09

Pradesh High C 1970 Pradesh
ourt

Jammu and Kas 1943-08-28 Letters Patent Jammu & Kashm Srinagar &   14
hmir High Cour issued by the ir Jammu[4]
t Maharaja of
Kashmir
 Indian High Courts
Jharkhand High 2000 Bihar Re- Jharkhand Ranchi   12
Court organisation Act,
2000
Karnataka High 1884 Mysore High Karnataka Bangalore Circuit Benches 40
Court Court Act, 1884 at Hubli-
[5]
Dharwad &
Gulbarga  

Kerala High Co 1956 States Kerala, Kochi   40

urt Reorganisation Lakshadweep
[6]
Act, 1956

Madhya Prades 1936-01-02 Government of Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur Gwalior, Indore 42

h High Court India Act, 1935
[7]

Madras High Co 1862-08-15 High Courts Act, Tamil Nadu, Chennai Madurai 47
urt 1861 Pondicherry

Orissa High Co 1948-04-03 Orissa High Orissa Cuttack   27

urt Court Order,
1948

Patna 1916-09-02 Government of Bihar Patna   43

High Court India Act, 1915
 Indian High Courts
Punjab and Har 1947-11-08 High Court Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh   53
yana High Cour (Punjab) Order, Chandigarh
t 1947
[8]

Rajasthan High 1949-06-21 Rajasthan High Rajasthan Jodhpur Jaipur 40

Court Court
Ordinance, 1949

Sikkim 1975 38th Amendment Sikkim Gangtok   03

High Court

Uttaranchal 2000 U.P. Re- Uttarakhand Nainital   09

High Court organisation
Act, 2000

•Allahabad High CourtOriginally known established at Agra. Shifted to Allahabad in

1875.

•Lahore High Court established in 1919-03-21. Jurisdiction covered undivided Punjab

and Delhi. In 1947-08-11 a separate High Court of Punjab was created with its seat at
Simla under the Indian Independence Act, 1947 which had jurisdiction over Punjab,
Delhi and present Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. In 1966 after the reorganisation of
the State of Punjab, the High Court was designated as the High Court of Punjab and
Haryana. The Delhi High Court was established on 1966-10-31 with its seat at Shimla.
 Lower Courts/Tribunals
• District Judges 
• Sessions Judges
• Appellate Co-Operative Courts
• Appellate Labour Courts
• Income Tax Tribunals
• Central Excise Tribunal
• Sales Tax Tribunals
• Accident Claims Tribunals
• Special Courts
• Administrative Tribunals
• Military and other similar Courts
 Judge & Magistrate
• Principal Civil Judges (SD & JD)

• The Chief Judicial Magistrates and other

Judicial Magistrates of First Class

• Special Executive Magistrates

• Metropolitan Magistrates
 Indian Criminal Justice
• Indian Penal Code 1860 (IPC)

• Criminal Procedure Code 1973 (Cr. PC)

• Law of Evidence 1872

 Indian Penal Code
• Indian Penal Code (IPC, Hindi: भारतीय दण्ड संहिता) The Indian Penal
Code came into force in 1862 (during the British Raj) and is
regularly amended, such as to inc aspects of the Criminal Law.

• The code applies to any offence committed by an Indian Citizen

anywhere and on any Indian registered ship or aircraft.

• After independence, Indian Penal Code was inherited by Pakistan

(now called Pakistan Penal Code) and Bangladesh, formerly part of
British India. It was also adopted wholesale by the British colonial
authorities in Burma, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei,
and remains the basis of the criminal codes in those countries.

• The draft of the Indian Penal Code was prepared by the First Law
Commission. It was chaired by Lord Macaulay passed into law in
1860, unfortunately Macaulay did not survive to see his masterpiece
enacted into a law.
 Offences under IPC
CHAPTER V - ABETMENT Sections 109 to 120.

CHAPTER V - A - CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY Section 120 B

CHAPTER VI - OFFENCES AGAINST THE STATE Sections 121 to 130.

CHAPTER VII - OFFENCES RELATING TO THE ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FOR Sections 131 to 140.
CE

CHAPTER VIII - OFFENCES AGAINST THE PUBLIC TRANQUILITY Sections 143 to 160.

CHAPTER IX - OFFENCES BY OR RELATING TO PUBLIC SERVANTS Sections 161 to 171.

CHAPTER IX-A - OFFENCES RELATING TO ELECTIONS Sections 171 E to 171 I.

CHAPTER X - CONTEMPTS OF THE LAWFUL AUTHORITY OF PUBLIC SERV Sections 172 to 190.
ANTS

Sections 193 to 207.

CHAPTER XI - FALSE EVIDENCE AND OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC JUSTIC Sections 208 to 216.
E Sections 216 A to 229.

CHAPTER XII - OFFENCES RELATING TO COIN AND GOVERNMENT STAM Sections 231 to 263 A.
PS

CHAPTER XIII - OFFENCES RELATING TO WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Sections 264 to 267.

CHAPTER XIV - OFFENCES AFFECTING THE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, CO Sections 269 to 294 A.
NVENIENCE, DECENCY AND MORALS

CHAPTER XV - OFFENCES RELATING TO RELIGION Sections 295 to 298.

 Offences Under Indian Penal Code

Sections 302 to 318.

CHAPTER XVI - OFFENCES AFFECTING THE HUMAN BODY Sections 323 to 348.
Sections 352 to 377.

Sections 379 to 402.

CHAPTER XVII - OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY Sections 403 to 440.
Sections 447 to 462.

CHAPTER XVIII - OFFENCES RELATING TO DOCUMENTS AND TO PROPER Sections 465 to 489 E.
TY MARKS

CHAPTER XIX - CRIMINAL BREACH OF CONTRACTS OF SERVICE Sections 491.

CHAPTER XX - OFFENCES RELATING TO MARRIAGE. Sections 493 to 498.

CHAPTER XX - A - OF CRUELTY BY HUSBAND OR RELATIVES OF

Sections 498 A.
HUSBAND.

CHAPTER XXI - DEFAMATION Sections 500 to 502.

CHAPTER XXII - CRIMINAL INTIMIDATION, INSULT AND ANNOYANCE Sections 504 to 510.

CHAPTER XXIII - ATTEMPTS TO COMMIT OFFENCES. Sections 511.

 Cognizable, Bailable
• A cognizable offence in the criminal justice system of India is
one in which the police is empowered to register a FIR,
investigate and arrest an accused involved in cognizable crime
without a court warrant.
• As defined in Cr.PC, a non-cognizable offence is one in which
police can neither register a First Information Report (FIR) nor
can investigate or effect arrest without the express permission
or directions from the court.
• The offences under any law (mostly the Indian Penal Code)
are classified as cognizable and non-cognizable, as bailable or
non-bailable and by the lowest courts which can try them.
These are given and defined in the First Schedule of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
 Press
• Clipped from the Printing Press
• A Printing or Published establishment
• The Art, business or practice of printing
• Newspapers, magazines, news services
etc, in general, or the persons who write
them; journalism or journalists
• Publicity, criticism, etc, in newspaper,
magazine, etc.
(WEBSTER’s New World Dictionary)
 What is Press? (legal)
• The Press as an establishment where printing is
done
• The Press as a Medium of Publication
• The Products of Printing, Such as Newspaper,
Pamphlets, Handbills and Books.
• Those who engage in the production of
foregoing articles, such as printer, editor,
publisher, journalist or author.
• The business aspect of a printing establishment,
Newspaper in particular.
 Press
• The Press as a medium of expression, publicity,
criticism etc.,
• In relation to an individual (involving defamation)
• In relation to state (involving sedition, incitement to
offences)
• In relation to court (involving contempt of Court)
• In relation to Parliament (affecting privileges of
Parliament)
• In relation to the public in general (involving public
order, decency)
 What is a
Newspaper?

S. 1 (1) of Press and Registration of Books Act 1867

“ Newspaper means any printed periodical work containing

public news or comments on public news”

• It must be printed
• It must be periodically
• It must contain news or comments on news
• Such news must be public in nature
 Newspaper Establishment

Section 2 (d) of Working Journalist Act 1955:

“ Newspaper establishment means an establishment
under the control of any person or body of persons,
whether incorporated or not, for the production or
publication of one or more newspaper or for
conducting any news agency or syndicate.”
 Book and Pamphlet
S 1 (1) of Press and Registration of Book Act 1867:

“Book includes every volume, part of or division of a

volume, and pamphlet, in any language, and every
map, chart or plan separately printed.”

• Book exclude a newspaper, it would include a

pamphlet.
 Registrar of Newspapers for India
• The Office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India, popularly known as
RNI came into being on July 1, 1956, on the recommendation of the First
Press Commission in 1953 and by amending the Press and Registration of
Books Act (PRB Act) 1867.

• The RNI compiles and maintains a register of newspapers containing

particulars about all the newspapers published in the country; it issues
certificates of registration to the newspapers published under valid
declaration. It scrutinizes and analyzes annual statements sent by the
publishers of newspapers every year.

• RNI include the formulation of a Newsprint Allocation Policy—guidelines

and the ability to issue Eligibility Certificates to the newspapers to enable
them to import newsprint and to procure indigenous newsprint. The RNI
assesses and certifies the essential needs and requirements of newspaper
establishments to import printing and composing machinery and allied
materials.
 History of
Press

• The printing press preceded the advent of printed news

in India by about 250 years.
• It was in 1674 that the first printing apparatus was
established in Bombay followed by Madras in 1772.
• India's first newspaper, Calcutta General Advertise , also
known as the Hicky's Bengal Gazette was established in
January 1780.
• First Hindi daily, Samachar Sudha Varshan, began in
1854.
• it is instructive to examine India's press in two broad
analytical sections: the colonial and independent press
(which may, again be classified into two: preceding and
following the Emergency rule imposed by Indira Gandhi's
government in 1975).
 History of Press
"Newspaper history in India is inextricably tangled with political history,"

• James Augustus Hicky was the founder of India's first newspaper, the Calcutta
General Advertiser also known as Hicky's Bengal Gazette , in 1780.
• Soon other newspapers came into existence in Calcutta and Madras: the Calcutta
Gazette , the Bengal Journal, the Oriental Magazine , the Madras Courier and the
Indian Gazette .
• While the India Gazette enjoyed governmental patronage including free postal
circulation and advertisements, Hicky's Bengal Gazette earned the rulers' wrath due
to its criticism of the government.
• In November 1780 its circulation was halted by government decree. Hicky protested
against this arbitrary harassment without avail, and was imprisoned.
• The Bengal Gazette and the India Gazette were followed by the Calcutta Gazette
which subsequently became the government's "medium for making its general
orders"
• The Bombay Herald, The Statesmen in Calcutta and the Madras Mail and The Hindu,
along with many other rivals in Madras represented the metropolitan voice of India
and its people. While Statesman voiced the English rulers' voice, The Hindu became
the beacon of patriotism in the South. The Hindu was founded in Madras as a counter
to the Madras Mail .
 Press Regulations
in
India
“Our freedom depends in large part, on the continuation of a free press, which
is the strongest guarantee of a free society.”  

• The Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 – This Act regulates
printing presses and newspapers and makes registration with an appointed
Authority compulsory for all printing presses. 

• The Press (Objectionable Matters) Act, 1951 – This enactment provides

against the printing and publication of incitement to crime and other
objectionable matters.   

• The Newspaper (Prices and Pages) Act, 1956 – This statute empowers
the Central Government to regulate the price of newspapers in relation to
the number of pages and size and also to regulate the allocation of space to
be allowed for advertising matter. 
 Press Regulations in India

• Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954 – According to this
Act, the publishers of books and newspapers are required to deliver, free of cost, a copy
of every published book to the National Library at Calcutta and one copy each to three
other public libraries specified by the Central Government. 
• The Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service
and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1955 – It lays down the minimum standards of
service conditions for newspaper employees and journalists. 
• Defence of India Act, 1962 – This Act came into force during the Emergency
proclaimed in 1962. This Act aimed at restricting the Freedom Of The Press to a large
extent keeping in mind the unrest prevailing in India in lieu of the war against China. The
Act empowered the Central Government to issue rules with regard to prohibition of
publication or communication prejudicial to the civil defence/military operations,
prevention of prejudicial reports and prohibition of printing or publishing any matter in
any newspaper. 
• Civil Defence Act, 1968 - It allows the Government to make rules for the prohibition of
printing and publication of any book, newspaper or other document prejudicial to the
Civil Defence. 
• Press Council Act, 1978 – Under this Act, the Press Council was reconstituted (after
1976) to maintain and improve the standards of newspaper and news agencies in India. 
 Press Regulations in India

• Contempt of Courts Act, 1971

• The Official Secrets Act, 1923.
• Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995
• The Cinematograph Act, 1952
• The Copyright Act, 1957
• Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of
Employment) Act, 1981
• Drug and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act,
1954
• Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969
 Broadcast Media
(Ministry of I&B)

The Broadcasting Code

• To ensure the objective presentation of news and fair and
unbiased comment
• To promote the advancement of education and culture
• To raise and maintain high standards of decency and decorum
in all programmes
• To provide programmes for the young which, by variety and
content, will inculcate the principles of good citizenship
• To promote communal harmony, religious tolerance and
international understanding
• To treat controversial public issues in an impartial and
dispassionate manner
• To respect human rights and dignity