The press must remain free if the country is to remain a democracy, said Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, while speaking at the Ramnath Goenka awards for excellence in journalism.
“Vibrancy of democracy is compromised when press is prevented from speaking truth to power. The press must remain free if the country is to remain a democracy. Newspapers have historically acted as catalysts for social and political change,” he said.
He added: “Many newspapers were started by social reformers and political activists during independence struggle, monument to struggle…many journalists work in unfavourable conditions, but are relentless in face of adversity and opposition.”
A day before CJI spoke about press freedom, a prominent Kashmiri journalist Irfan Maharaj was arrested under draconian UAPA in a terror funding case.
The top journalists’ collectives in India including Press Club of India and Editors Guild of India have raised concerns about the arrest of Irfan and demanded immediate release of the Kashmiri scribe.
Irfan is the founding editor of Wande Magazine and now works as a senior editor at TwoCircles.net. He has contributed to leading news publications like The Indian Express, Al Jazeera, Himal Southasian, DW, and TRT World.
NIA has claimed Mehraj is its first arrest in the ‘NGO-terror funding case’. Incarcerated Kashmir human rights activist Khurram Parvez is also an accused in the same case.
