Thiruvananthapuram: The Media Regulation Bill that the Kerala Government was planning to introduce has been put off likely fearing a backlash. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented the draft of the bill in the Cabinet meeting last Wednesday and he himself put it off.
The Chief Minister reasoned that a clearer and loophole-free law was needed, and the draft submitted by the Law Secretary will be examined later by the Law Minister, hence the bill need not be considered at the moment. The ministers who attended the Cabinet meeting didn’t speak for or against the Bill.
Normally, a subject that is put off from a Cabinet meeting for clarity will be considered in the next Cabinet meeting. The media bill may not come up for consideration in today’s Cabinet meeting.
The draft bill proposes to introduce the new Section 292 (A) through legislation after amending the Indian Penal Code, with an objective to curb the printing, publishing, and distribution of ‘grossly indecent or scurrilous matter or matter intended for blackmail’.
The new section is another version of the 118 (A) amendment to the Kerala Police Act that was withdrawn earlier, following public criticism. The legislation introduced then through an ordinance was taken back five days later via another ordinance.
The new legislation makes it legally punishable the exhibition of any printed or written document or picture, that amounts to blackmail or shows in a bad light, or brings discredit to any other person, to public view. Newspapers, weeklies, and social media, among others, would come under the purview of the new law.
The Bill has prescribed imprisonment of up to two years or with a fine or with both for those found guilty.
