Nitish curbing Bihar press, iterates watchdog Katju

Press Council of India chairman Justice Markandey Katju, who has been seeking for some months now to reinforce his credentials as an upholder of freedom of expression, today stood by his comments that the press in Bihar was being shackled.

''If any journalist writes against the [Bihar] government or minister or official, that journalist is either sacked or transferred from his job. Newspaper proprietors are pressured to act against such journalists – otherwise government advertisements [to that publication] are stopped. So nobody dares to write against the state government,'' he said at a function in Patna.

Justice Katju said law and order may have improved under Nitish Kumar's United Democratic Front government but press freedoms have been curbed.

The retired Supreme Court judge's remarks come days after he pulled up Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan for failing to prevent attacks on journalists in the state, going so far as to say that he would press for the state government's removal if it failed to strengthen measures to protect media persons (See: Press Council chief serves notice on Maharashtra CM).

Katju had said on Friday that a three-member Press Council team would be sent to Bihar soon to investigate the treatment of journalists in Bihar, which was ''not good'' according to his information.

Katju's statement during an interactive session at Patna University sparked an instant protest by the principal of the college Lalkeshwar Prasad, who left in a huff. The incident disrupted the function for some time.