On May 9, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta disputed the credibility of the Press Freedom ranking of India given by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). As per RSF, India slipped 11 positions from the 150th rank in 2022 to the 161st rank in 2023. While hearing the Bikil Bano case in the Supreme Court, Justice KM Joseph remarked that India is in the 161st position in the Press Freedom ranking. SG Mehta countered it by saying the ranking depends on who gives it.
SG: Gujarat Samachar, Sandesh, Divya Bhaskar.. are all well read..
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 9, 2023
SC modifies order: we also direct publication of public notice for effectuating service on unserved respondents on Gujarat Samachar, Sandesh. Notice shall indicate the date of hearing as July 10, 2023
SG: In…
A Bench headed by Justice KM Joseph was hearing the challenging plea remission granted by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts of the gang rape of Bilkil Bano and the murder of her family in the 2002 Gujarat Riots.
The court ordered directing publication of notice for effectuating service on unserved respondents in the case. The court ordered to publish the public notice in one Gujarati and one English language newspaper indicating July 10, 2023, as the next hearing date.
While passing the order, Justice KM Joseph remarked, “We are 161 in terms of journalistic freedom,” to which SG Mehta responded, “Depends on the person giving the ranking, I can also have someone give the number one ranking to India…so it totally depends.”
The dubious press freedom ranking by RSF
Reporters Without Borders’s recently published press freedom ranking is based on old misleading reports and dubious data. In the recent ranking, India has been put at 161st rank, 11 ranks down from the previous ranking, which was 150. Interestingly, Reporters Without Borders has put India below authoritarian governments like Pakistan on the list.
RSF claimed the central government is spending more than 130 billion rupees (Rs 13,000 crores) or 5 billion euros a year on print and online media ads alone. OpIndia had filed an RTI seeking information on the ad spent by the central government on different platforms, including print, outdoor advertisements, social media, radio and television. Per the reply sent by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India, the figures are nowhere close to what RSF has claimed.
Contrary to what RSF claimed, the reply to OpIndia’s RTI categorically showed that the Modi government had reduced its ad spending considerably over the years. In FY 2014-15, it spent Rs 682.32 crores. In the next four years, the ad spend stood above Rs 900 crores. However, After the Modi government came back to power in 2019, the money spent on ads was reduced to less than half and stood at Rs 348.07 crores in FY 2019-20, followed by 209.34 crore in 2020-21, 136.05 crores in 2021-22 and 126.58 crores in FY 2022-23 till December 31, 2022.
RSF claimed GoI spent Rs 13,000 crores only in print and online media ads. In reality, the ad spent on all formats (television, print, radio, outdoor, digital cinema, SMS, internet and misc) since the Modi government came to power stood under Rs 1,000 crores. It has been using the numbers for over a year but did not care to check the data provided by the government.
KM Joseph sparked controversy recently after he smiled at the calls for the genocide of Hindus. During a hearing on hate speech in the apex court, SG Mehta said pointed out the statements made against Hindus and informed the court about a call made by a DMK leader to butcher all the Brahmins. Justice Joseph smiled at this submission, according to legal media portals. When Mehta said that this was not a matter which should be laughed at, Justice Joseph asked if knows who Periyar was.
Furthermore, when advocate Vishnu Jain asked about the “Gustaakh e Rasool ki ek hi saza sar tan se juda sar tan se juda” slogan heard in Muslim rallies. Justice Joseph made another comment, saying, “Action has an equal reaction,” seemingly saying that the hate speeches by Muslims are the results of hate speeches by Hindus.
