Laws and Ethics in Mass Communication

Indian Telegraph Act

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885

• The main object of the Telegraph Act was to give power to the Government to install telegraph lines on private as well as

public property.

• Telegraph is defined as any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or capable of being used for transmission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, or by Radio waves.

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885

• Privilege of the Government with respect to Telegraph:

Section 4 of the Act deals with exclusive privilege of the government to establish, maintain and use telegraphs. It also provides for the government to grant license to establish, maintain or work a telegraph. The government may grant such license on certain conditions and for a license fee.

Section 5 of the Telegraph Act is commonly known as the wire-tapping clause. It gives power to the government to take possession of any licensed telegraphs in case of a public emergency or in the interest of public safety. It also orders interception of communication in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relation with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence. However, the government has to follow the procedure established by law for issuing such order.

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885• Section 7: The government has the power to make rule with regard to

following issues:a)Rates and other conditions and restrictions subject to which messages will

be transmitted within Indiab) Precautions to be taken to prevent improper interception or disclosure of

message

Section 10:The telegraph authority has the power to place, maintain telegraph line. The telegraph authority can only take possession of land for the purpose of installing and maintaining telegraph lines and posts. It will be liable to pay adequate compensation to all the persons who have a stake in such property. The Telegraph Act also gives power to the telegraph authority to enter on property for the purpose of repairing or removing telegraph lines or posts.

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885

• Sections 12-15 are the procedure applicable to take possession of property. The telegraph authority has to take permission and pay any expenses for setting up communication equipment on property under the control of a local authority. The local authority may also ask the telegraph authority to remove any telegraph lines or post if it finds it necessary to do so. Any dispute between telegraph authority and local authority will be decided by an officer appointed by the Central Government.

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885

• Section 20-32 (Penalties)• Sec 20: Whosoever establishes, maintains or works a within

India a telegraph without proper license or authorization from the government shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both.

Sec 22: If a Railway Company, or an officer of a Railway Company, neglects or refuses to comply with the provision which gives power to the Central Government to establish telegraph on land of Railway Company shall be punished with a fine which may extend to Rs. 1000 for every day during which the neglect or refusal continues.

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885• Sec23: If any person without permission of -competent authority, enters

the signal-room of a telegraph office of the government, or enters a fenced enclosure in contravention of any rule or notice not to do so, or refuses to quit such room or enclosure on being requested to do so by any officer or servant employed therein, shall be fined.

• Sec 24: If any person does any of the acts mentioned in Section 23 with the intention of unlawfully learning the contents of any message, or

of committing any offence punishable under this Act shall be imprisoned for a term which may extend to 1 year in addition to the fine with which he is punishable under Section 23

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885• Sec 25: If any person intending to prevent or obstruct the transmission or

delivery of any message, or to intercept or to acquaint himself with the contents of any message, or to commit mischief, damages, removes, tampers with or touches any battery, machinery, telegraph line, post or other thing whatever, being part of or used in or about any telegraph or in the working thereof, shall be imprisoned for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine or with both.

• Sec 30 : If any person fraudulently retains, or conceals removes holds without any reason any message which ought to have been delivered to some other person, or, being required by a telegraph officer to deliver up any such message, neglects of refuses to do so shall be imprisoned for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both.

Indian Post Office Act

Indian Post Office Act, 1898

Wherever within India posts or postal communications are established by the Central Government, the Central Government shall have the exclusive privilege of conveying by post, from one place to another.

The [Government] shall not incur any liability by reason of loss, misdelivery or delay of, or damage to, any postal article in course of transmission by post; and no officer of the Post Office shall incur any liability by reason of any such loss, misdelivery, delay or damage, unless he has caused the same fraudulently or by his willful act.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898

The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix the rates of postage and other sums to be charged in respect of postal articles sent by the inland post under this Act. The Govt will make rules to scale the weights, terms and conditions subject to which the rates shall be fixed.

The Central Government may make rules as to the supply, sale and use of postage stamps.

The Central Government will fix the price at which postage stamps shall be sold. The Government will also declare the classes of postal articles in respect of which postage stamps, shall be used for the payment of postage or other sums chargeable under this Act.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898 Transmission by post of anything injurious prohibited: No person shall send

by post any explosive, dangerous, filthy, noxious or deleterious substance; any sharp instrument not properly protected, or any living creature which is either noxious or likely to injure postal articles in course of transmission by post or any officer of the Post Office.

No person shall send by post, --a) any ticket, proposal or advertisement relating to a lottery; orb) any other matter descriptive of, or otherwise relating to, a lottery, which

is calculated to act as an inducement to persons to participate in that lottery.

In this section “lottery” does not include a lottery organized or authorised by the Government.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898

Transmission by post of anything indecent, etc.,prohibited.—

No person shall send by post- a) any indecent or obscene printing, painting, photograph, lithograph, engraving, book or card, or any other indecent orobscene article, or

b) any postal article having thereon, or on the cover thereof, any words, marks or designs of an indecent, obscene, seditious, scurrilous, threatening or grossly offensive character.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898Power to intercept postal articles for public good.-O n the occurrence of any public emergency, or in the interest of the public

safety, the Government [Central or State], or any officer specially authorised in this behalf the Govt may, by order in writing, direct that any postal article shall be intercepted or detained.

No newspaper printed and published in [India] without conforming to the rules laid down in the Press and Registration of Books Act, shall be transmitted by post.

Transmission by post of value-payable postal articles.- The [Central Government] may, by notification in the [officialGazette], direct that, a specified sum of money may be recovered on the delivery from the addressee. The sum, so recovered, shall be paid to the sender.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898 Power to maintain money order system and to make rules as to remittances

thereby: The Central Government may provide for the remitting of small sums of money through the Post Office by means of money orders. The government will decide

(a) the limit of amount for which money orders may be issued;(b) the rates of commission or the fees to be charged on money orders

Power to provide for the issue of postal orders.- The Central Government may authorise the issue of money orders to be called postal orders, for certain fixed amounts. It can also make rules as to the rates of commission to be charged and conditions subject to which, they may be issued, paid and cancelled.

Indian Post Office Act, 1898Penalty for opening, detaining or delaying postal articles: Whoever being an

officer of the Post Office, contrary to this duty, opens any postal article in course of transmission by post, or willfully detains or delays, any such postal article, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine or both.

Whoever, being appointed to sell postage stamps, takes from any purchaser for any postage stamp a price higher than that fixed by any rule shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine or with both.

Whoever places in or against any letter box provided by the post office any thing likely to injure any such letter box or contents, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both.

Newspaper Price and Page Act, 1956

Salient Features of the Act

NewspaperPrice and Page Act, 1956

• This is an Act to provide for the regulation of the prices charged for newspapers in relation to their pages. The purpose of this act is to prevent unfair competition among newspapers so that newspapers may have fuller opportunities of freedom of expression.

• This Act defines "daily newspaper“ as a newspaper which is published not less than six days in a week, and includes any supplement or special edition of such newspaper;

• This Act defines “newspaper“ as any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news appearing at intervals of not more than a week.

Newspaper Price and Page Act, 1956

The Central Government has the power to regulate prices and pages of newspapers, etc. The Central Government for the purpose of preventing unfair competition among newspapers, may from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, make an order providing for the regulation of the prices charged for newspapers. The price is fixed in relation to their maximum or minimum number of pages.

Before making any order under this section, the Central Government shall consult associations of publishers. and such publishers likely to be affected by the order as it may think fit with respect to the action proposed to be taken.

Newspaper Price and Page Act, 1956

Returns be furnished by newspapers. The Press Registrar appointed under the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 may, from time to time, direct the publisher of any newspaper to furnish to him weekly returns and statistics with respect to the flow of advertisement and other matters concerned with the normal working of the newspaper. The publisher of every newspaper shall comply with such direction.

If the publisher of any newspaper- • refuses or neglects to comply with any direction of the Press Registrar; or • furnishes or causes to be furnished to the Press Registrar any weekly

returns or statistics which are false shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees

Newspaper Price Control Act

Newspaper Price Control Act, 1972

Salient features of the Act:For the purpose of securing the availability of newspaper, the government may by an order published in the Official Gazette determine the maximum price of newspaper to be charged under Sec 3 of this act.

The maximum price determined shall not be less than the basic price of the newspaper.

No order shall me made in respect of newspapers sold at a price exceeding the basic price.

Prices of newspapers may vary in respect of different newspapers.

Newspaper Price Control Act, 1972

• If the owner of the newspaper is aggrieved of any such order by the government, he can apply for a revision within thirty days of the publication of such notification stating the reasons for which he thinks a revision is necessary.

• The owner or the publisher of the newspaper is bound to return a report which the Central Govt may consider necessary for carrying out the Act.

• No newspaper shall be sold in territories to which this Act extends in contravention of an order made under Sec 3.

• Whosoever sells a newspaper in contravention of Sec 3 of this act shall be punished with a fine.