VOLUNATRY HEALTH ASSOCIATION Vs. PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner by this writ petition- impugns letter dated 11.10.2001, of the Press Council of India Annexure P. 16, informing the petitioner that in view of the publication of the clarification by the respondent newspaper Dainik Sambad, no further action Is warranted in the matter.

(2.) Grievance of the petitioner Is that the respondent newspaper has made a mockery of Its clarification by reducing it and omitting essential portions. Petitioner's original complaint against the respondent was found to be justified by the Press Council. The Enquiry Committee of the Council, recommended a warning to be given to the respondent newspaper for the infarction of Journalistic ethics. Petitioner was directed to send a factual clarification to the respondent newspaper for publication. Respondent was required to publish It within a week of receipt, without omitting any portion. The editor was however given liberty to append his note that they stood by the original story, If so advised.

(3.) Writ petition raises an interesting question with regard to the right of an aggrieved person to Insist upon the full text of the reply/clarification to be published vis-a-vis the right of the newspaper to edit the same and restrict its- length, as long as the essential points are retained and no material portion is omitted.