Review accreditation norms for journalists, HC directs Himachal govt
Legal Correspondent
Shimla, April 9
The HP High Court has directed the state government to review and revise the accreditation granted to different categories of journalists strictly in accordance with the Rules of 2016 and thereafter grant fresh accreditation.
The court directed the government to amend the Rules 2016 to make a time-bound provision for granting/ refusing accreditation. And in the case of rejection, a provision be made to make it mandatory to record reasons for it. It must be ensured that only one journalist from one publication/newspaper be granted accreditation (state or district level), in accordance with the rules.
While passing the orders, Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan said, “The rules of accreditation have though been framed, these are not being scrupulously followed. There have been instances where the state-level accreditation has been granted to correspondents of newspapers having negligible circulation in Himachal and in some cases the newspaper is not even sold in the state. It has to be ensured that accreditation is granted at the state level based on the publication’s circulation in Himachal and not merely on the basis of the appointment letter of the Editor of the paper concerned.
The court said, “Even though there is a clear bar on retaining official accommodation by journalists like in the case of government servants having their own houses/flats in Shimla, it has been noticed that many journalists, who have own houses/flats and some who have even constructed flats on subsidised land in the Journalists Housing Society near ‘Asia The Dawn’ near the Sankat Mochan temple, are still retaining government houses. Such a tendency needs to be curbed and the house in possession is required to be handed over to the government forthwith”.
Justice Chauhan observed that “even though the instant Rules 2002 stood substituted, the rules as applicable today do not contain a time frame to consider a journalist’s request for accreditation or renewal. This cannot be left to the whims and fancies of the government. Therefore, the rules need to be suitably amended by clearly setting out a time frame for the grant and refusal of accreditation to journalists”.
The court passed the orders on a petition filed by a journalist pleading that the state had rejected his application for accreditation.
