Our Correspondent
Press Council of India (PCI) has asked the government to enact a special law to deal with the cases of assault on journalists and it should be made cognizable and non- bailable offence. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, PCI chairman Justice C K Prasad said the government may enact a law for the safety of journalists and the cases involving murder of journalists should be automatically referred to CBI.
He said the cases of attacks on journalists should be investigated by a special task force under the supervision of the PCI and investigation be completed within a month. PCI had constituted a ten member sub-committee in 2011 to examine the issues of safety of journalist. The committee visited 11 states and interacted with over one thousand working journalists and editors.
According to the report more than 80 journalist were killed in the country in the last two decades. It said, 60 journalists were killed in states like Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and not a single person was convicted. It has recommended that all the cases of attacks on journalists shall be referred to special courts and trial should be completed within a year of filing of charge sheet.
The committee said, any case against a journalist should be registered only after getting clearance from the Director General of Police of the state. Justice C K Prasad said, 10 Lakh rupees should be paid to next of kin of the victim by the concerned state government and a compensation of 5 lakh rupees be paid to the injured. Besides, all the medical expenses of the injured journalist may be paid by the state government.