'Statute changes needed to avoid curbs on press'

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N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, in his welcome address at the 125th
anniversary celebrations of the newspaper said statute changes had become
necessary to eliminate the problem of how at least two of the "reasonable
restrictions" on freedom of speech and expression provided for in Article 19
of the Constitution had been used against the press.

These restrictions had become unreasonable and illiberal in practice, he
said referring to the way in which criminal defamation and criminal contempt
of court laws had been used against the press - to create what might be
called a "chilling effect".

The Indian press enjoyed a freedom that was enviable by the standards of the
developing world. This freedom flowed from Article 19 and had been put on a
pedestal by judicial interpretation. "We feel that to safeguard Article 19
freedoms, defamation must be de-criminalised and the civil remedies made
more effective, and the sky-high powers assumed by the higher courts to act
as `judges in their own case' must be taken away by Parliament and the people." 

Source:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/09/14/stories/2003091401390100.htm