Rajasthan Patrika to black out news on Raje, state govt over ordinance

Prominent Rajasthan daily Rajasthan Patrika announced on Wednesday that it will not publish anything that involves Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje or her government officials unless the government withdraws a controversial ordinance.

The ordinance, promulgated by the state government on September 7, seeks to provide immunity to all retired or serving public servants, judges and magistrates from any investigation. The order sought to amend Sections 156 and 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), thereby ensuring that public servants can only be probed with prior permission from the state or the Centre. 

In an editorial published on the front page on Wednesday, Rajasthan Patrika editor-in-chief Gulab Kothari stated this “black law” has defeated the days of Emergency in terms of gagging the media. The editorial, point by point, explains how the ordinance travelled through the state Assembly, during question hour and was later referred to a select committee of the Assembly. Clarifying the validity of the ordinance, the editorial explains that the ordinance is effective, even if referred to a committee, until the government withdraws it. 

“The government has left no stone unturned in throwing eggs at us… Hence, the board of directors have accepted the recommendations of the editorial team and decided that as long as CM Vasundhara Raje doesn’t withdraw this black ordinance, Rajasthan Patrika will not publish anything about her or related to her,” the editorial read. 

But does this decision have anything to do with the recent decline in allocation of government advertisements to this newspaper? A well-placed source from the newspaper told Newslaundry that the newspaper gets government ads and said that the matter was resolved last year after the intervention of the Supreme Court. “This decision has nothing to with the ads, those are just rumours,” the source said. 

Read the entire editorial here.