Rajasthan Patrika celebrates govt’s withdrawal of Bill that gagged media, shielded public servants

On Monday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced the withdrawal of the Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, 2017. The Bill had sought to gag the media from reporting on judges and other government servants until the prosecution received a go-ahead from the sanctioning authority. 

It had also proposed that media be barred from disclosing the identity of an accused without approval, and suggested a jail term of up to two years for any violation.

Following Raje’s announcement of government’s withdrawal, prominent Rajasthan daily Rajasthan Patrika, that had taken a stand against the government’s proposal, led with the headline: “Satyamev Jayate“. Calling the Ordinance’s withdrawal, a historic win, the paper congratulated and thanked the readers for their support.

According to The Indian Express, Raje had made the announcement while replying to a question in the Assembly. Raje had said: “We sent the Bill to the Select Committee, we let the ordinance lapse and today it is not law, what should we withdraw? But we are still withdrawing it.”

Earlier, the Bill was referred to a Select Committee in the Assembly following protests by the Opposition, journalists and lawyers, The Indian Express reported.

BJP MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari had termed it “Kala Kanoon“. The Ordinance, after the Bill’s introduction in the Assembly, was valid for a six-week period and it lapsed in December 2017. While the Committee was given an extension, it is yet to submit its report. 

Following withdrawal of the Bill, state Congress president Sachin Pilot said, “Rajasthan’s image has gone down because of the stubborn attitude of this government in not shelving the Bill immediately after the Ordinance lapsed. The CM must explain what was the need for sending the Bill to the Select Committee, and why the Ordinance was promulgated in the first place.”