Maharashtra Becomes the First State to Enact Bill to Protect Journalists

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed a much-anticipated bill seeking to protect journalists and media houses from attacks, with provisions for three years’ imprisonment and/or penalty. The offence shall be cognizable (police officer has the authority to make an arrest without a warrant and to start an investigation with or without the permission of a court) and triable by a first-class judicial magistrate. Anyone who commits or attempts to commit any act of violence against journalists or media houses shall be punished with jail terms up to three years or with a fine up to Rs 50,000 or with both.

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The offender is also liable to pay compensation for damage or loss caused to the property of the media person or the media house as determined by the court. The bill came after a long struggle of several years by the media persons, who were at the receiving end of various anti-social, political and other groups during the course of discharging their duties.