Press Council of India issues show-cause notice to The Caravan on Poonch story, betraying its own mandate to protect freedom of press
On 1 October, The Caravan received a show-cause notice from the Press Council of India regarding the story Screams from the Army Post. The story, published online and in our February issue of the magazine, is about the torture of numerous civilians by Indian Army personnel in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu and Kashmir on 22 December 2023, in which three persons died as a result of their injuries.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered the takedown of the story on 12 February, stating that failure to do so would result in the blocking of the organisation’s entire website. The Caravan filed a petition challenging the order in the Delhi High Court on 1 March, on the grounds that it constituted a grave attack on the freedom of press and violated the fundamental right to free speech and expression. Not only is the MIB complaint against our magazine unsupported by facts and lacking a basic understanding of journalistic procedures, it is a clear attempt to stifle a story about severe human-rights violations faced by Indian citizens. Our piece is built on meticulous reporting, has gone through the rigour of our editorial and fact checking processes, is backed by evidence, and has followed the high standards of journalistic ethics our organisation subscribes to.
The MIB sent its complaint to the PCI on 5 March, well after The Caravan had already taken down the story from its website and removed the URLs listed in the order. We are shocked at the PCI’s decision to issue a show-cause notice to us seven months later, where a basic assessment of the complaint would have made clear the MIB’s actions against The Caravan constitutes an act of censorship and the suppression of press freedom. Further, the show cause notice has been issued beyond the period of forty-five days stipulated under Regulation 5 of the Press Council (Procedure for Inquiry) Regulations and is therefore barred by limitation. The Press Council Act also expressly states that nothing in its inquiry and censure process “shall be deemed to empower the Council to hold an inquiry into any matter in respect of which any proceeding is pending in a court of law.” As the case relating to this report is sub-judice, and is being heard in the Delhi High Court, the PCI’s show-cause notice is in clear violation of the Act that created the institution and is patently illegal.
The PCI’s mandate is to protect the freedom of press, and to uphold its right to bring forward stories that are in the interest of the public good. By sending us this show-cause notice, and slapping on alleged violations of norms that do not seem applicable to the report in the first place, the PCI has failed its mandate. We believe the PCI’s actions are fundamentally violative of its own objectives as stated in the Press Council Act and hope that the PCI ensures they defend the rights of journalist uncovering severe human rights abuses rather than further the suffocation of freedom of press.
The piece details allegations of custodial torture and murder of Indian citizens by members of the Indian security forces. This is a fact accepted even by the state government of Jammu and Kashmir (which offered compensation to the victims) and by the Indian army (which is currently holding an inquiry into the incident, acknowledging a video in which the custodial torture of several locals is visible). Our report is based on the quotes of senior government and army officials, eye-witness accounts of those who saw the violence take place, police and medical records, as well as video and other documentary evidence.
The Caravan fully stands by the story. We demand that this complaint be rescinded and that the PCI honour the objectives set out in the Press Council Act, which includes “to help newspapers and news agencies to maintain their independence.”