Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan slams media: Press freedom can’t be attacked over an article, even if 'defamatory'
An article, even if defamatory, cannot be counted as an ‘assault on the Governor’.
The Governor versus media tussle going on in Tamil Nadu reached a new point on October 12, with the Raj Bhavan slamming the media for supporting “Nakkheeran” Gopal. A press statement from Raj Bhavan said that “yellow journalism is being supported by respectable people.”
The controversy started with the arrest of RR Gopal, the editor of Tamil magazine Nakkheeran, for their article on a professor. This professor was arrested in April this year for allegedly luring woman students into offering sexual favours to top officials in the Madurai Kamarajar University.
The article had allegedly produced derogatory and slanderous remarks against the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit, over his alleged links with the professor — something Purohit has steadily and vehemently denied.
The Governor’s office filed a case with the police over the article, and Gopal was arrested on October 9 under Section 124 of the IPC, which is hardly used against journalists. As many among Gopal’s supporters pointed out, this Section deals with “assaulting the President or Governor with intent to compel or restrain exercise of any lawful power”, and a magazine article, even if offensive in nature, cannot amount to assault.
Even in the IPC, assault is defined as “whoever makes any gesture or any preparation intending or knowing it to be likely that such gesture or preparation will cause any person present to apprehend that he who makes that gesture or preparation is about to use criminal force to that person is said to commit an assault.”
No wonder then that the case against Gopal was dismissed in the court, bringing embarrassment to the police and the Governor’s office.
Now, with their statement against the press, the Governor’s office has once again drawn attention to itself, with remarks the kind of which are seldom issued from such a high authority.
Apart from refuting the charges against the Governor, the statement has hit out at journalists who stood with Gopal against the arrest. In a bid to save face, the Raj Bhavan has said that “they maintained dignity for many months” but the slanderous article was not acceptable, and the statement given by the accused professor before the police “will itself bear out the truth”.
“It is a matter of humour to say that press freedom is being threatened on the count, of action, being taken under the law after much patience and tolerance to stop a slanderous, vulgar, and cowardly way of attacking the first citizen of the State," the statement said.
The advisors of the Governor are missing out on a few points here.
Nobody is contending that the article was written without any evidence. No copy of the claimed statement by the accused professor regarding the Governor was produced in the magazine. No attempt made to contact the Governor’s office for an official reaction. These indeed breach the ethics of journalism, and the article could surely be found defamatory by the Governor’s office.
Hence, a better way to deal with this would have been to file a defamation case. Going a step ahead, if the Governor’s office had wanted to clear the air, an official could have held a press conference.
What made matters worse was the use of an IPC Section which everyone knew would be struck down in a court of law. The complaint copy from the Governor’s office had asked for the use of IPC 124, without seemingly verifying the definition of the law and the context of its usage. This raises doubts if the intention was only to arrest Gopal for an article against an office of authority.
If this was not enough, the statement issued by the Governor’s office on October 12 seemed more desperate, justifying the complaint filed against Nakkheeran.
Bharathi Tamizhan, the joint secretary of the Chennai Press Club, says: “Raj Bhavan officials seem confused. They should know we have nothing against the Raj Bhavan. They should be aware that the use of Section 124 against a journalist for an article is the real concern. This is the first time that the Section has been used against a journalist. We didn’t take sides with the article that was published. In fact, we believe the media is accountable for the stories published. Recently, two journalists were arrested on sexual harassment charges in Chennai. We didn’t defend them. So, the Raj Bhavan has to understand that the use of a draconian law is causing concerns about press freedom. And nothing more.” The Raj Bhavan does indeed seem to be missing this, and approaching the issue with different lenses.
In fact, when N Ram of The Hindu appeared before the Magistrate defending Gopal, he was asked if such an article or photo would be published in his newspaper. Ram clearly stated he wouldn’t publish such a story without any evidence. So, the intention of journalists in Tamil Nadu is not to defend Gopal, but only to protest against the use of authority without justification.
It obviously raises serious concerns about press freedom, which the journalists have to fight for.
If only this issue was handled in a different manner, unnecessary spotlight on the respectable Governor’s office could have been avoided.