Need for Free press in Democracy

“A free Press stands as one of the great interpreters between the Government and the

people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves”

‘Freedom’ means absence of control, interference or restriction. Hence, the expression ‘freedom of the Press’ means the right to print and publish without any interference from the State or any public authority

Freedoms, cannot be absolute but is subject to well-known exceptions acknowledged in the public interest, which in India are enumerated in Art. 19 of the Constitution

 

Since, in India, freedom of ‘expression’ is guaranteed by Art. 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, and it has been held by our Supreme Court that freedom of the ‘Press’ is included in that wider guarantee

It is a basic human right; and has also been called a ‘preferred’ right.

The argument in favor of freedom of the Press is the same as that for freedom of speech, with a stronger appeal arising from the special features of printed matter

Freedom of the Press is the same as that for freedom of speech, with a stronger appeal arising from the special features of printed matter

A printed matter records the ideas in a permanent form, which speech cannot.

However large the audience to a speech may be, a newspaper or book has a larger circulation than spoken words.

As is clear from Art. 19(1)(a) of our Constitution, the Press, as an

institution, has no constitutional or legal privilege. What is known as the freedom of the Press is nothing but the freedom of expression of every

citizen