Mumbai: A petition has been filed by a journalist in Bombay High Court alleging gross abuse of position by the Chairman of Press Council of India Markandey Katju and pleaded that the relevant law be amended to allow removal of a PCI chief.
The Ministry of Law and Justice, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Union Government and Press Council of India through its Secretary have been made respondents in the petition filed by Arvind Pansare, reporter of Sanatan Prabhat newspaper.
The petition alleged that Katju has been engaging in a gross abuse of power by making political statements and his conduct is highly objectionable. "He has been using language in a bad taste and had been exceeding the mandate and authority prescribed under law," it said.
The petitioner also said there was absolutely no legal remedy provided in law for removal of Chairperson of PCI and therefore urged for the repeal of the PCI act....
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09:53 PM, Apr 15, 2013
New Delhi: Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Justice Markandey Katju has written to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking pardon for Devender Pal Singh Bhullar who has been awarded death sentence in connection with the 1993 Delhi bomb blast case. Katju's letter comes close on the heels of a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court rejecting the plea of Bhullar, a Khalistani terrorist and death row convict Bhullar in a judgement...
08:25 PM, Apr 13, 2013
Following the upholding of the sentencing of film star Sanjay Dutt to five years imprisonment by the Supreme Court in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, Press Council of India chief Justice Markandey Katju has appealed to Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan to pardon the actor. In a statement issued in New Delhi, Katju sought pardon for Dutt under Article 161 of the Constitution saying that he had not been found guilty of...
09:53 PM, Mar 21, 2013
The Opposition on Sunday demanded resignation of the Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju in a counter-attack to Katju's recent article about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. ...
03:03 PM, Feb 17, 2013
Ninety per cent of Indians are "idiots" who can easily be misled by mischievous elements in the name of religion, Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Justice Markandey Katju claimed on Saturday. "I say ninety percent of Indians are idiots. You people don't have brains in your heads....It is so easy to take you for a ride," he said at a seminar here. ...
10:59 PM, Dec 08, 2012
New Delhi: Contending that press freedom is "not an absolute right", Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju on Friday said that freedom of press "must" be "crushed" if media's functioning leads to backwardness and "lowers the standard of living of people". The former Supreme Court judge, who is known for his candid and often controversial comments, also criticised media for giving more importance to Bollywood and cricket than vital...
02:36 AM, Nov 17, 2012
Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju, who has had a few run-ins with the media, said that he was no enemy and only wished well for the Fourth Estate. On National Press Day, Justice Katju said, "I regard the Indian media as Lord Hanuman and my self as Jamwant." ...
04:09 PM, Nov 16, 2012
New Delhi: Slamming the "ugly display of temper" by Virbhadra Singh after he threatened to break cameras of mediapersons, Press Council chief Markandey Katju on Wednesday said such increasingly intolerant behaviour by politicians against journalists was unacceptable in democracy. "It is deeply regrettable that certain politicians are of late becoming increasingly intolerant towards the media, and are not behaving in a manner which is expected of them in a democracy,"...
12:04 AM, Oct 25, 2012
New Delhi: The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) on Friday took up Jindal Steel's complaint against Zee News. Jindal Steel had filed an extortion case against the television news channel with the Press Council of India. However, in a press release, NBSA said, "The complaint filed by Jindal Steel Ltd regarding telecast of news with regard to allocation of coal blocks and other issues on Zee News, Zee Business and...
09:45 PM, Oct 19, 2012
Positive journalism finally found recognition at CNN-IBN's 'India Positive' awards show on Thursday night. The event, that was sponsored by the Jaypee Group, felicitated 13 individuals, including Jharkhand's acid attack victim Sonali Mukherjee. Press Council of India chief Justice Markandey Katju was all praise for the media and appreciated CNN-IBN initiative to highlight positive stories amidst the daily flurry of negative news. He admitted that he had been too critical ...
08:56 AM, Oct 05, 2012
Bangalore: The incident was aired on national television and written about extensively in newspapers; there were dharnas, protests by citizens, there was turmoil everywhere but in the journey to contradict an incident that hit our society, did we forget about the victims? Did the effect of the entire shameful episode on the teenagers was lost somewhere? Such events have a traumatic effect on the young minds. Media has done its...
02:04 PM, Aug 01, 2012
New Delhi: Press Council of India (PCI) Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju on Friday told delegates from International Press Institute (IPI), a Vienna-based media watchdog, that he had taken up with state governments issues of protection of journalists and safeguarding them from undue pressure. During the meeting, Justice Katju told the delegation that he was committed to preserve the freedom of the media. The delegation comprised IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel...
04:21 AM, Mar 03, 2012
Patna: Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju said on Friday that the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government harassed the media if they wrote against it. Katju said the information he had gathered about the media in Bihar was "not good". He reminded the Nitish Kumar government that its alleged action against the press was a violation of the Constitution. A three-member PCI team will be sent to Bihar soon...
07:04 AM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Attacking Salman Rushdie, Press Council of India (PCI) Chairman Markandey Katju today said the "sensationalism" depicted by his book 'Satanic Verses' has deeply hurt Muslim sensitivities and that an individual's freedom of speech has to harmonised with the public interest. Justice Katju, who had last week termed Rushdie as a "sub-standard and poor writer", also questioned the Booker Prize awarded to the author saying it was "mystery" why...
04:26 PM, Jan 30, 2012
New Delhi: Wading into the debate over appearance of Sunny Leone on reality show Big Boss, Press Council of India Chairperson Justice Markandey Katju on Monday said the American porn star's past should not be held against her if her behaviour in India is "socially acceptable". Leone, when she was in America had not broken any American laws and that Indians were broad minded and liberal people who should take...
03:31 PM, Jan 09, 2012
Kolkata: Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju on Tuesday strongly advocated awarding 'Bharat Ratna' to late Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, describing him as one of the greatest writers of the world. "I would appeal to (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee to take up with the President of India for awarding Bharat Ratna to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay,'' he told newsmen on the sidelines of an interaction with members...
04:40 PM, Dec 06, 2011
Kolkata: Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Markandey Katju on Monday said his criticism of the media was not taken in the right spirit and a diatribe was launched against him. "When I criticised the media for what it was doing, my intention was not to destroy it, but to reform it. I wanted to remind the media of its solemn duty to the nation," Katju, who recently made headlines...
04:16 AM, Dec 06, 2011
New Delhi: After his controversial remarks about the media Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju has said "most people in India are of a very low intellectual level, steeped in casteism, communalism, superstitions and all kinds of feudal and backward ideas". Given this, the argument that the media should provide programmes and news as per the tastes of viewers degrades it to an ordinary business dealing in commodities,...
11:34 PM, Nov 25, 2011
New Delhi: Dismissive about the self-regulatory mechanism of the News Broadcast industry, the Press Council of India chairman, Justice Markandey Katju, on Monday said if TV channels did not want to come under the Press Council they should choose another body like Lokpal. "Self-regulation is no regulation" and news organisations are "private bodies whose activities have a large influence on the public and they also must be answerable to the...
07:19 PM, Nov 07, 2011
New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India has severely criticised comments made by Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju on the media. The Guild said that Justice Katju's words had touched a new low in the discourse over the functioning of the media and it totally opposed the attempt being made by him to assume draconian powers to control the media, which are a violation of the very...
10:07 PM, Nov 01, 2011
