Rajasthan's new law shielding ministers, lawmakers and government officials from investigations into private complaints against them without sanction should be withdrawn as it "gives untrammelled power to even imprison journalists" and "endangers freedom of the press", the Editors Guild of India has said in a strong statement directed at Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Rajasthan's BJP government led by Ms Raje has put out an ordinance or executive order barring courts from taking up complaints against public servants without the government's approval. The law also makes it a crime to identify the minister, lawmaker or official against whom a complaint has been filed in the court. Issued last month, the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance will be introduced in the state assembly today.

Urging the government to withdraw the "harmful ordinance" immediately, the Editors Guild said: "The ordinance promulgated by the State Government last month was ostensibly done to protect the judiciary and the bureaucracy against false FIRs. But in reality it is a pernicious instrument to harass the media, hide wrongful acts by government servants and drastically curb the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Constitution of India."