Parliamentary Debates Parliament of India Wednesday 12th September 1951 Part II - Proceedings other than Questions and Answers Official Report

But the stricter the laws became the more vigorous and the more stiff became the opposition from the people and the Press and the ultimate result was that the British had to quit from India on the 15th August 1947. [...] You give the power to the judiciary with one hand; at the same time you tighten the provisions of the law to such an extent that with all the goodwill on the part of the judiciary it will not be able to uphold the freedom of the Press in the way in which one would like it to do. [...] It is rathea interesting to compare the provisions of the 1931 Act and the provisions of the present Bill in re- lation to the definition of what is called 'objectionable matter'. [...] The sheet-anchor of the Hanle Minister's arguments is that nothing can be done without the sanction of the judieia. ry,2443 Press (Incitement 12 SEPTEMBER 1951 to Crime) Bill 2444 but the judiciary would he hound by the definition of 'objectionable matter' as given in clause 3 and the prevision in clause 3 is of such a wide character that it is capable of including any- thing which may otherwise be [...] I must say that the definition of the offence equivalent to sedition under section 124A is somewhat lesser in character in the new Bill and that I believe gives us the picture of the amendment of section 124A that may come according to the announcement made by the Home Minister yesterday.