Delhi High Court Issues Notice on Mumbai Press Club’s Plea to Reconstitute Press Council of India

Moneylife Digital Team 06 June 2025

Economy & Nation

The Delhi High Court (HC) has issued a notice to the Union government and the Press Council of India (PCI) following a writ petition filed by the Mumbai Press Club (MPC), seeking urgent reconstitution of the PCI. The petition urges the court to direct the PCI chairperson to constitute the 15th press council without any further delay.

Justice Sachin Datta, who heard the petition on 26 May 2025 during the summer vacation, directed the government and PCI to file their replies. The case is now scheduled for further hearing on 10 July 2025.

The Press Council of India, a statutory quasi-judicial body set up under an Act of Parliament, is meant to uphold press freedom and ensure ethical journalism. It hears complaints related to violations of press freedom and cases where media coverage potentially harms the rights and liberties of individuals.

Ordinarily, the Press Council is reconstituted every three years and includes a chairperson—typically a retired Supreme Court judge—20 elected members representing journalists, editors, and publishers, and eight nominated members including five MPs and three public figures with expertise in law, literature, or the arts.

However, the term of the 14th Press Council expired on 8 October 2024, and despite the statutory process to appoint the next Council starting over a year ago, the 15th Council is yet to be formed.

This nine-month delay, the MPC argues, has rendered the PCI defunct and is severely affecting its statutory functions, particularly its role in resolving media-related disputes. The backlog of over 400 pending cases, which cannot be adjudicated in the absence of a functioning Council, is a cause of growing concern.

The Mumbai Press Club’s petition highlights that several journalist associations, including MPC and the Editors Guild of India (EGI), were unfairly disqualified from participating in the nomination process by a scrutiny committee appointed by the chairperson. The disqualification, it argues, was based on flimsy and technical grounds.

Both MPC and EGI have played prominent roles in previous Press Councils, particularly in highlighting issues such as the illegal detention of journalists, restrictions on the press in Jammu & Kashmir, and large-scale layoffs of media workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a significant development, the Delhi HC had earlier ruled in favour of MPC on 22 November 2024, recognising it as a legitimate ‘association of persons’ and setting aside the scrutiny committee’s decision. Despite this, the PCI has filed a letters patent appeal (LPA) challenging the single-judge verdict, which remains pending before a division bench. Importantly, there is no stay or interim order in any of the related cases that would prevent the formation of the new Council.

MPC’s petition argues that citing ongoing legal disputes as an excuse for delay is not valid, especially since the court has not stayed the reconstitution process. It also warns that inaction is harming the only statutory mechanism available for protecting press freedom and addressing media-related grievances.

Apart from MPC, other journalist bodies such as the EGI and the Working Cameraman’s Association have also approached the High Court seeking inclusion in the Press Council. Their petitions too are pending before a division bench.

The non-functioning of the Press Council, MPC argues, is a serious setback for Indian journalism at a time when institutional mechanisms for safeguarding press freedom are already under strain. By filing this writ of mandamus, the Mumbai Press Club hopes to restore the functioning of the PCI and ensure that it remains an effective guardian of the rights of the media and the public it serves.

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