The Tamil Nadu assembly vs the Hindu
The Tamil Nadu assembly vs the Hindu
The offending editorial, The Hindu, April 25,2003
RISING INTOLERANCE
WITH EACH PASSING day, the Jayalalithaa administration in Tamil
Nadu seems to be scaling new heights of intolerance. The crude
use of state power against various sections including political
opponents and the independent media shows a contempt for the
democratic spirit that is deeply disturbing. Perhaps because she
was at the receiving end of a series of criminal cases filed by the
previous DMK administration, she sees her return to power as an
opportunity to wield the sanctioning and prosecuting power of the
state blatantly to her political advantage. In the process, the law
and order machinery is working overtime and the administration
seems to be trampling on the basic rights of the people. The
Government should feel secure with its huge mandate and use the
opportunity to concentrate on the tasks of governance without
even the distractions of a political challenge. Ironically, it is instead
behaving like an administration which is unsure of itself and is
living from day to day. Its inordinate appetite for political
confrontation is bound to take a heavy toll in terms of diminution of
democratic rights and the welfare of the State as a whole. The
courts can no doubt be counted upon to protect the rights, but the
disturbing frequency with which people have had to resort to courts
for relief and the fact that respect for democratic norms has to be
brought home through court rulings reflect poorly on the style of
governance.
At one time, along with the Chief Ministers of neighbouring States,
not even the Prime Minister was spared from Ms. Jayalalithaa`s
vehement attack — a development that the Supreme Court took
serious note of and made her withdraw. A far more serious attack
was launched against her political opponents within the State in the
form of prosecutions, arrests and detentions. The media too have
come under pressure with a slew of defamation cases that are
quite unparalleled. The latest in this pattern of functioning is the
privilege issue taken up by the Tamil Nadu Assembly over three
reports of its proceedings published in The Hindu. A series of
descriptive phrases, mostly about the Chief Minister`s speeches,
strung together from separate reports have been collectively
referred to the Assembly`s Privileges Committee, and given its
composition, the outcome hinges critically on the attitude of the
AIADMK members. The phrases objected to in a statement made
by the Speaker include "stinging abuse", "unrestrained attacks on
the opposition", "fumed", "incensed", "chastisement" and "diatribe",
all used in different contexts in describing Ms. Jayalalithaa`s
speeches on different occasions. These phrases are described as
indecent and their use is said to be motivated by a desire to
diminish the goodwill and fame that the Government enjoys. The
phrases are said to constitute baseless accusations and their
publication is said to be derogatory to the dignity of the House and
a breach of its privilege.
It is useful to note in this context that the device of privilege of the
legislature exists to protect its free and independent functioning,
and not to protect the reputation of the Government or of inDIVidual
members. This was made clear by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
with reference to the remarks of Rajaji that the Congress had
declined and its legislators "were such people whom any first class
magistrate would round up." He was following a ruling in the House
of Commons that "hard words used against persons and parties
are dealt with, if necessary, by the law of defamation and it is only
where the House as a whole is affected... a question of privilege
arises." The House of Commons on whose practice the privileges of
legislatures are still based does not allow privilege issues to be
raised over reports of proceedings unless they relate to
proceedings behind closed doors or expunged portions of any
speech. Because of its extraordinary nature and because the
legislature sits in judgement on its own cause or in the matter of an
important member, it ought to be used only rarely when there is
real obstruction to its functioning, and not in a way that sets
legislators above ordinary comment and criticism. To invoke it
lightly or to ward off innocuous, even if unflattering, comments on
inDIVidual legislators would be grossly offensive to the democratic
spirit and would inhibit independent reporting and assessment of
the performance of legislators. The tone of the speeches, the
quality of debates, the behaviour of the legislators, the nature and
importance of the business transacted, violence, walk outs and the
space allowed for the opposition are all matters that are
legitimately commented upon in all democracies. The Supreme
Court while upholding the constitutional validity of parliamentary
privilege, observed that "we are well persuaded that our Houses,
like the House of Commons will appreciate the benefit of publicity
and will not exercise the powers, privileges and immunities except
in gross cases" and it is incumbent on legislatures not to act in a
way that betrays that trust.
Front page editorial in the Hindu the day after the Speaker ordered the arrests:
A CRUDE AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL MISADVENTURE
THE INDIAN PRESS is reputed to enjoy a freedom that is enviable
by the standards of the developing world. This freedom flows
from Article 19 of the Indian Constitution and has been put on a
pedestal by judicial interpretation. In the case of The Hindu, even
as it celebrates the 125th anniversary of its birth, this freedom
was outrageously and unconstitutionally violated on November 7
by a decision scripted by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister,
Jayalalithaa, resolved in the name of the Tamil Nadu Legislative
Assembly, and sought to be enforced by the police descending in
a blatantly illegal and offensive manner on the offices of the
newspaper as well as on the homes of four of its five senior
management and editorial representatives whom the Assembly
had sentenced to 15 days simple imprisonment. The persons
targeted were S. Rangarajan, Publisher; N. Ravi, Editor; Malini
Parthasarathy, Executive Editor; V. Jayanth, Associate Editor and
Chief of the Tamil Nadu Bureau; and Radha Venkatesan, Special
Correspondent. All this was done in the name of protecting the
privileges of the Legislative Assembly. In this 125th year of its
existence, The Hindu has reiterated its commitment to five guiding
principles, including truth telling, freedom and independence, and
justice. It is determined to expose the Jayalalithaa dispensation`s
grave misadventure factually and truthfully and to face the latest
challenge to its freedom and independence and to the
fundamental rights and personal liberties of five of its senior and
valued representatives with every resource at its command. It
has decided immediately to take the matter to court.
Legislative privilege can be traced back to medieval Britain, when
an emergent Parliament was struggling to defend itself against a
powerful and dominant monarchy. It was never intended to be
used as a crude instrument to threaten the independent media
and trample on the fundamental right of free expression, which
includes fair comment and criticism. The Tamil Nadu Assembly
based its action on a total misreading of the Constitution, the law
and the material facts of the case. The power of legislative
privilege was aimed at strengthening the independent functioning
of the legislature; it was certainly not meant to intimidate and
stifle criticism and to create a `chilling effect` on the freedom of
the press. The Tamil Nadu Assembly has had an unenviable
history of wielding `sky-high` powers to punish editors and senior
journalists for allegedly lowering the reputation of the House. Its
latest decision, however, is unparalleled in the history of abuse of
this power. The articles that earned the wrath of the Tamil Nadu
Assembly`s Privileges Committee, dominated by the AIADMK,
were three news reports and an editorial titled "Rising Intolerance
" published in April this year. Quite extraordinarily, the allegedly
offensive portions in the reports were descriptive words such as "fumed",
"incensed", "stinging", "diatribe", and "high-pitched tone" employed
to give a feel of Ms. Jayalalithaa`s speeches on a few occasions.
As for the editorial, it was a well-reasoned and upstanding response
to the decision to refer these reports to the Assembly`s Privileges
Committee. It made the important point that privilege
must be invoked only when there is a material obstruction of the
functioning of a legislature and that the power must not be used to
insulate legislators against comments or criticism.
The Privileges Committee`s decision comes against the disturbing
backdrop of a systematic attempt by the Jayalalithaa Government
to harass and browbeat the independent press. Since the AIADMK
came to power in May 2001, the Tamil Nadu Government has filed
a large number of defamation cases, criminal and civil, against an
array of publications. The Hindu faces 16 criminal defamation
cases and one civil defamation suit, all of them completely
baseless. The crude manner in which the State machinery
attempted to enforce the Tamil Nadu Assembly`s decision is
evidence of the AIADMK Government`s contempt for the free and
independent media. The police first invaded The Hindu`s Chennai
headquarters with no arrest warrants to show when challenged by
its Editor-in-Chief. They then returned with incomplete papers to
conduct a search of the buildings despite assurances that those
who they were looking for were not present on the premises.
The Hindu has always respected the freedom, privileges and role
of legislatures, which are vital institutions that need to be kept in
good health in a democracy. Over the truly long term, this
approach has earned the newspaper a reputation for
even-handedness, fairness and accuracy. However, it will be a
mistake to take this attitude and these traits as signs of
weakness. This newspaper assures its readers and the nation at
large that it will not be cowed down by authoritarian intolerance
and the use of State power to subvert the freedom of the press
and other fundamental rights.
http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/08/stories/2003110810400100.htm
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