Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju Monday came down heavily on Maharashtra government.
Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju Monday came down heavily on Maharashtra government saying despite a number of cases of assault on journalists in the state it did not seem to be serious about tackling the problem.
"In view of the large number of assaults on journalists taking place in your state, some protection must be given to journalists, but it seems your government is not serious about this," Katju said in a letter shot off to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
He listed several instances where journalists had been assaulted in the state just for doing their job.
"Two years back a journalist Yogesh Kute was beaten up by a builder for exposing his unlawful activities. That was followed by the daylight murder of journalist J Dey in Mumbai. Recently a TV reporter from Buldhna, Ganesh Solnaki was assaulted by a group of criminals," the Press Council of India Chairman wrote.
Katju also drew the Chief Minister's attention to the protests and dharnas held by organizations of journalists against the problems faced by them.
"Your government has promised to act severely and punish the persons involved in these assaults on journalists, but nothing seems to have been done seriously," he said.
Taking exception to the report of a state government panel headed by Narayan Rane which allegedly said there was no need for any special protection to be provided to journalists, Katju said the recommendation was unacceptable and sought a copy of the report.
"You are, therefore, requested to inform me what steps your government has taken for protection of journalists in the state of Maharashtra and what steps you propose to take," Katju said in his letter to Chavan.
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