Edict likely to amend law on foreign newspapers

The government is mulling an ordinance to amend the Press and Registration Act, the law that governs printing of foreign newspapers in India.

Currently, foreign newspapers cannot print their editions in India owing to the 1956 Cabinet resolution that prevents them from doing so.

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Highly-placed government sources said once the nature of the changes to be introduced in the policy were decided, the proposal would go to the Cabinet for an ordinance.

The need to bring about the change in the policy was felt because the US-based International Herald Tribune started publishing the newspaper out of Hyderabad without taking necessary permissions from the government.

The government feels that the publishers of IHT in India have taken advantage of the fact that though there is the Cabinet decision, there is no statute restricting publication of foreign newspapers in India.

Sources said the government felt the policy needed to be made legally sustainable and sound.

"Foreign newspapers cannot be allowed an automatic route to print in India. This requires government permission as you cannot take away the basic right of the government to regulate printing of foreign publications in India," said the government official.

The sources also said the government was unlikely to take a hard line on this as the print media policy already permitted 26 per cent foreign equity in newspapers.

However, details on what kind of news publications will be permitted to print in India are still to be worked out.

"We are not sure whether only partnership cases will be allowed to print in India," the official said.