 the press and registration of books (amendment) bill, 1955-(as introducbd in lok sabha)  the press and registration of books (amendment) bill, 1955 (as introduced in lok sabha) a bill/tvrther to amend the l?ress and registration of books act, 1867 be it enacted by parliament in the sixth year of the republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act maybe called the press and registration of books short title (amendment) act 1955 and com-, mencement s (2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint 2 in the long title of the press and registration of books act, amendment 1867 (hereinafter referred to as the pz:incipal act), after the word !!::o~vh~ "books" occurring in both the places, the words "and newspapers" 1867· 10 shall be inserted 3 in the preamble to the principal act, for the words "every amendment book printed or lithographed in india and for the registration of~: kl'e8~~ such books", the words ""every book ind newspaper printed in india of 1867· and for the registration of such books and newspapers" shall be is substituted 4 in section 1 of the principal act,-amen~ment of section i, (a) in the definition of "book", the words "or lithographed" shall act xxv of be omitted; 1867 20 25 (b) after the definition of "newspaper", the following definitions shall be inserted, namely:-''paper'' means any document, including a newspaper, other than a book; "printing" includes cylostyling and printing by lithography; "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made by the central government under section 20aj "press registrar" means the registrar of newspapers for india appointed by the central government under section 19a and includes any other person appointed by the central government to perform all or any of the functions or the press registrar; s "register" means the register of newspapers maintained under section 19b amendment 5 section 4 of the principal act shall be re-numbe,red as sub-~'jglvd!r section (l) of that section and after sub-section (1) as so re-numbered, 1867· the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely: -10 "(2) as often as the place where a press is kept is changed, a new declaration shall be necessary: provided that where the change is for a period not exceeding sixty days and the place where the press is kept after the change is within the local jurisdiction of the magistrate is referred to in sub-section (1), no new declaration shall be necessary 1£-(a) a statement relating to the change is furnished to the said magistrate within twenty-four hours thereof; and 20 (b) the keeper of the press continues to be the same" amcddmeot of aec:tiod 5 actxxv of 11167· 6 in section 5 of the principal act,-(ar in the declaration contained in rule (2), for the words "and printed or published, or printed and published", the words "alul to be printed or published, or to be printed and published" shall be substituted; 2s (b) after rule (2), the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-"(2a) every declarati~ under rule (2) shall specify the title of the newspaper, the language in which it is to be published and the periodicity of its publication and shall contain such other particulars as may be pres- 30 cribed"; (c) to rule (3), the following proviso shall be added, namely:-"provided that where the change is for a period not exceeding thirty days and the place of printing or publication after the change is within the local jurisdiction of 35 the magistrate referred to in rule (2), no new declaration shall be necessary if-:-(a) a statement relating to the change is furnished to the said magistrate within twenty-four hours thereof; and (b) the printer or publisher or the printer and publisher of the newspaper continues to be the same"; (d) in rule (4), for the words "shall leave india", the words "shall leave india for a period exceeding thirty days" shall s be substituted; (e) after rule (4) and before the proviso, the following rules shall be inserted, namely:-"(5) eva-y declaration made in respect of a newspaper shall be void, where the newspaper does not commence pub-10 lication-(a) within six weeks of the declaration, in the case (,f a newspaper to be published once a week or oftener; and (b) within three months of the declaration, in the case is of any other newspaper, and in every such case, a new declaration shall be necessary before the newspaper can be published (6) where, in any period of three months, any daily, tri-weekly, bi-weekly, weekly or fortnightly newspaper 20 publishes issues the number of which is less than half of what should have been published in accordance with the declaration made in respect thereof, the declaration shall cease to have effect and a new declaration shall be necessary before the publication of the newspaper 25 can be continued (7) where any other newspaper has ceased publication for a period exceeding twelve months, every declaration made in respect thereof shall cease to have effect, and a new declaration shall be necessary before the news-30 paper can be re-published (8) every existing declaration in respect of a newspaper shall be cancelled by the magistrate before whom a new declaration is made and subscribed in respect of the same" , 3s 7 in section 6 of the principal act,-amendment of section 6, (a) after the first paragraph, the following proviso shall be inser- act xxv of ted, namely: _ 1867· 40 "provided that where any declaration is made and subscribed under section 5 in respect of a newspaper, the declaration shall not, save in the case of newspapers owned by the same person, be so authenticated unless the magistrate is satisfied from such inquiry as he thinks fi t to make from the press registrar or otherwise that the newspaper proposed to be published does not bear a title which is the s~e as, or similar to, that of any other newspaper published either in the same language s or in the same state"; (b) after the third paragraph, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely:-"a copy of the declaration attested by the official seal of the magistrate shall be forwarded to tlie press regis-10 trar"  8 in section 8 of the principal act,-amendmenl ofsection 8, act xxv of 1867 (a) for the first paragraph, the following paragraph shall be substituted namely:-"if any person has subscribed to any declaration in respect is of a newspaper under section 5 and the declaration has been authenticated by a magistrate under section 6 and subsequently that person ceases to be the printer or publisher of the newspaper mentioned in such declaralation, he shall appear before any district, presidency 20 or sub-divisional magistrate, and xnake and subscribe in duplicate the following declaration:-'i, ab  declare that i have ceased to be the printer or publisher or printer and publisher of the newspaper entitled· "; 25 (b) after the fourth paragraph, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely:-"a copy of the latter declaration attested by the official _seal of the magistrate shall be forwarded to the press registrar" 30 amenc:!ment 9 in section 9 of the prineipal act, the words "or lithographed" of section 9  act xxv of wherever they occur shall be omitted 1867· insertion of 10 after section lla of the principa! act, the following section new section ·shall be inserted, namely:-lib in act xxv of 186, copies of newspapers to be delivered to press registrar "l1b subject to any rules that may be made under this act, the 35 publisher of every newspaper in india shall deliver free of expense to the press registrar one copy of each issue of such ilewspaper as soon as it is published" amendment 11 in section 13 of the principal act, for the words dwithout ~c~~~{} i~; making such a deciaration as is required by section 4 of this act", 40 1867· the words "in contravention of any of the provisions contained in section 4 of this act" shall be substituted 12 in section 14 of the principal act, for the words "any declara- ameadmcnt t~on", the words "any declaration or other statement" shall be subs- tc:~ i:r s tltuted 1867 10 13 after section 15 of the principal act the following section inlertion of shall be inserted, namely: _ new secuon isa in act xxvofi867 "15a if any person who has ceased to be a printer or publisher p~nalty for of any newspaper fails or neglects to make a declaration in :e a ~~ compliance with section 8, he shall, on conviction before a lantion uil-magistrate, be punishable by fine not exceeding two hun- der section 8· died rupees" is 14 after section 16a of the principal act, the following section idlemon of new section shall be inserted, namely: -r6b in act xxvof1867 "16b if any publisher of any newspaper published in india pefi dal ity for 1 t d 1·  f th  l' 'th at ure to neg ec s to elver copies 0 e same 10 comp lance wi luppl y copisection lib, he shall, on the complaint of the press registrar, ci of newi-b  h bi  ibm' h'" papera to e pums a e on convict on y a aglstrate avmg lurls- the pres diction in the place where the newspaper was printed, by registrar fine which may extend to fifty rupees ror every default" 20 15 in section 18 of the principal act in item (12) ot the parti- amef_~~ment  0 k"uon 18 culars, for the words "or hthographed", the words "cyclostyled or act xxv of lithographed" shall be substituted 1867· 16 after part v of the principal act, the following part shall be lnaettion of inserted namely'-new pan va 2s '  in act xxv of 1867  "part va registration of newspapers30 19a the central govemment may appoint a retriatrar of news- :r=~ papers for india and such other olken udder the general,istrar ind superintendence and control of the press rejistrar as may other officera be necessary for the purpose of performing the functions assigned to them by or under this act and may, by general or special order, provide for the distribution or allocation of functions to be performed by them udder this act 35 19b (1) the press registrar shan maintain in the prescribed reailter of manner a register of newspapers newspapers ,(2) 1'he register shall, as far as may be practicable, contain the following particulars about every newspaper published in india, namely:-(a) the title of the newspaper; (b) the language in which the newspaper is published; (c) periodicity of the publication of the newspaper; (d) the name of the editor, printer and publisher of the newspaper; (e) the place of printing and publicatiolt; (f) the average number of pages per week; (g) the number of days of publication in the year; (h) the average number of copies printed, the average number of copies sold to the public and the average numbel' 10 of copies distributed free to the public, the average being calculated with reference to such period as may be prescribed; (i) retail selling price per copy; (j) the names and addresses of the owners of the newspaper is and such other particulars relating to ownership as may be prescribed; (k) any other particulars which may be prescribed (3) on receiving infonnation from time to time about the aforesaid particulars, the press registrar shall cause relevant 20 entries to be made in the register and may make such necessary alterations or corrections therein as may be required for keeping the register up-to-date ccrtiftaatct of reaimadon 19c on receiving from the magistrate under section 6 a copy of the declaration in respect of a newspaper, the press regis- 25 trar shall cause relevant entries to be made in the register in respect of the newspaper and shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, issue a certificate of registration in respect of that newspaper to the publisher thereof  19d it shall be the duty of the publisher of every newspaper-· 30annual statem:nt etc, to be furnilhed by qewlpapen (a) to furnish to the press registrar an annual tltatement in respect ot the newspaper at such time and containing such of the particulars referred to in sub-section (2) of section 19b as may be prescribed; (b) to publish in the newspaper at such times and ~uch of 35 the particulars relating to the newspaper referred to in sub-section (2) of section 19b as may be specified in this behalf by the press registrar '' 19e the publisher of every newspaper shall furnish to the retuma -:d press registrar such returns, statistics and other information =:~ b; with respect to any of the particulars referred to in suo-f newspaper section (2) of section 19b as the press registrar may from' time to time  require  10 is 2s19f the press registrar or any person authorised by him in right of acwriting in this behalf shall, for the purpose of the collection ~!s!d:: of any information relating to a newspaper under this act, ments have access to any relevant record or document relating to the newspaper ill the possession of the publisher thereof, and may enter at any reasonable time any premises when he believes such record or document to be and may inspect or take copies of the relevant records or documents or ask any question necessary for obtaining any information reo quired to be furnished under this act 19g the press registrar shall prepare, in such form and at such annual time each year as may be prescribed, an annual report con repone taining a summary of the information obtained by him during the previous year in respect of the newspapers in india and giving an account of the working of such newspapers, and copies thereof shall be forwarded to the central government   furnishing 19h on the application of any person for the supply of the of cop lei of copy of any extract from the register and on payment of ~r~ from such fee as may be prescribed, the press registrar shall eiliter furnish such copy to the applicant in such form md manner as may be prescribed 191 subject to the provisions of this act and regulations made ~~=~ thereunder, the press registrar may delegate all or any of his powers under this act to any officer subordinate to him 19k the press registrar and all officers appointed under this ::' re:ci act shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning other officer of section 21 of the indian penal code" - to be public - servants ~7 in section 20 of the principal act, after the words "make such ame f nc!mento 3 it i" d ft "    h hi' 0 iccuon 2 ~ ru es - the wor sand gures not inconsistent wit t e regu allons act xxv of made by the central government under section 20a" shall be inser- 1867 ted 18 after section 20 of the principal act, the following shall be inserted, namely:-section idleman' of new aec:tion 20a in act xxv of 1867 "20a the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesrulel (a) prescribing the particulars which a declaration made and subscriobed under section 5 may contain; (b) prescribing the manner in which copies of any dt>clara- s tion attested by the official seal of a magistrate may be forwarded to the press registrar; 10 (c) prescribing the manner in which copies of any newspaper may be sent to the press registrar under section lib; (d) prescribing the manner in which a register may be maintained under section 19b and the particulars which it may contain; (e) prescribing the particulars which an annual statement to be furnished by the publisher of a newspaper to the 15 press registrar may contain; (f) prescribing the fees for furnishing copies of extracts from the register and the manner in which such copies may be furnished; (g) prescribing the manner in which a certificate of regis- 20 trationmay be issued in respect of a newspaper; (h) prescribing the form in whfcll, and the time within , which, annual reports may be prepared by the press registrar and forwarded to the central government" idicrti~,~ 19 after section 21 of the principal act, the following section 2s new iq,;uud  22 in act shall he inserted, namely:-xxv of 1867· b~t~ "22_ this act extends to the whole of india except th, ~~~ qf j~dldlu ~t;i kml\mh''',  statement of objects and reasonsthe press laws inquiry committee which was set up by the government to enquire into the press laws made certain recommendations in 1948 for amending the press and' registration of books act, 1867 bas~d partly on these recommendations and partly on recommendations made by state governments, who had experienced practical difficulties in the working of the act, the press and registration of books (amendment) bill 1952 was introduced in parliament the press commission, which was appointed shortly thereafter, reviewed the entire position in respect of the working of the act they substantially endorsed the provisions of the above bill and made certain' further recommendations for the amendment of the act· the present bill incorporates the provisions of the earlier bill and makes certain further provisions in order to give effect to the recommendations of the press commission 2 the bill makes certain provisions for practical contingencies like temporary changes in the place of printing or publication it also provides that a declaration in respect of a newspaper shall cease to have effect if the newspaper does not commence publication within a specified period or if it ceases publication for a year or more or if it publishes issues the number of which is less than half of what should have been published in accordance with the declaration made in respect thereof 3 the act was intended to apply to all papers printed (including posters, etc), and, as recommended by the press commission, this intention has been clarified by removing the doubt which judicial decisions seem to have created 4 in accordance with the recommendations of the press commission, it is proposed to set up an organisation under a press regi&-trar for the purpose of registration of all newspapers published in india and for the collection, maintenance and publication of information concerning them new delhi; 'rhe 15th july, 1955 b v keskar  explanatory memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 18 of the bill empowers the central government to make regulations for carrying out certain procedural requirements laid down in the bill these are purely procedural matters of a routine character and relate inter alia to prescribing particulars of declaration, the manner of sending copies of declaration to the press registrar, the delivery of copies of newspapers to the press registrar, the maintenance of a register and the issuing of certificates by the press registrar and fees for furnishing copies of the extracts of register maintained by the press registrar the delegated legislation is of a normal character  financial memorandumthe proposed section 19a in clause 16 of the bill contemplates the appointment of a press registrar and such other officers as may be necessary for the purpose of performing the functions assigned to them the nuclear organisation, as at present envisaged, would require an initial non-recurring expenditure of about rs 20,000/- and an annual recurring expenditure of about rs 50,000/- the cost may increase depending upon the functions which may be assigned to this organisation and it is, therefore, not possible at this stage to form a more accurate estimate for the year 1955-56, it is expected that the following sums will be required:-non-recurring rs 20,000/- recurring rs 30,000/- no provision has been made in the budget for this purpose, but the necessary funds will be made available by re-appropriation, if ~sible funds in respect of subsequent years will vary from year to year, and will be provided for in the budget estimates in the normal way  annexure extracts from the press and lugistration or books ac:r, 1867 (no xxv of 1867) an act for the regula~on of pri~ting presses and newspapers, for the preservation of copies of books printed in india and for the registration of such bookspreambe whereas it is expedient to provide for the regulation of printing presses and of newspapers, for the preservation of copies of every book printed or lithographed in india and for the registration of such books; it is hereby enacted as follows:- part i preliminaryinterpreta-1 in this act, unless there shall be something repugnant in the tion clause subject or context,-•• book " "book" includes every volurite, part or division of a volume, and pamphlet in any language, and· every sheet of m~c, map, chart or plan separately printed or lithographed  - - - - - rules al to 5 no newspaper shall be published in india, except in confor-~~':'~on mity with the rules hereinafter laid down: ptiperi ' - - - - - - (2) the printer and the publisher of every such newspaper shall appear in person or by agent authorised in this behalf in accordance with rules made under section 20 before a district, presidency or sub-divisional magistrate within whose local jurisdiction such newspaper shall be printed or published, or such printer or publisher resides, and shall make and subscribe, in duplicate, the following declaration:-"i, ab, declare that i am the printer or publisher, or printer and publisher of the newspaper entitled  '"  and printed or published, or printed and published, as the case may be at  " and the last blank in this form of declaration shall be filled up with ·a true and precise account of the premises where the printing or publication is conducted:   ,   (4) as often as the printer or the publisher who shall have made such declaration as is aforesaid shall leave india, a new declaration from a printer or publisher resident within the said territories shall be necesspry: provided that no person who has not attained majority in accordance with the provisions of the indian majority act, 1875, or of the law to which he isi subject in respect of the attainment of majority, shall be permitted to make the declaration prescribed by this section, nor shall any such person edit a newspaper  - - - - - 8 provided always that any person who may have subscribed ~:: t!ec~~~: any such declaration as is aforesaid, and who may subsequently sons , who cease to be the printer or publisher of the newspaper mentioned in !i~fara':i,:ed such declaration, may appear before any district, presidency or and subtle-sub-divisional magistrate, and make and subscribe in duplicate the ~:a~~~yto be following declaration: -printer or publishen  - - - - -  part iii delivery of books9 printed or lithographed copies of the whole of every 'book copies ,of which shall be printed or lithographed in india after this act shalf :tj~e!~: come into force, together with all maps, prints or other engravings n;encement belonging thereto, finished and coloured in the same manner as the de~~ be best copies of the same, shall, notwithstanding any agreement (if gratis lo~go-, d h' i' h the book be pubhshe ) between t e prmter and pub is er thereof, vernmcnt be delivered by the printer at such place and to such officer as the state government shall, by notification in the official gazette, from time to time direct, and free of expense to the government as follows that is to say:-(a) in any case, within one calendar month after the day on which any such book shall first be delivered out of the pl'ess, one such copy, and (b) if within one calendar year from such day the state government shall require the printer to deliver other such copies not exceeding two in number, then within one calendar month after the day on which any such requisition shall be made by the state government on the printer, another such copy, or two other such copies, as 'the state government may direct, the copies so delivered being bound, sewed or stitched together and upon the best paper on which any copies of the book shall be printed or lithographed the publisher or other person employing the printer shall, at a reasonable time before the expiration of the ~id month, supply him with all maps, prints and engravings finished and coloured as  aforesaid, which blay be necessary to enable him to comply with the requirements aforesaid nothing in the former part of this section shall apply to -(i) any second or subsequent edition of a book in which edi- ~ tion no additions or alterations either in the letter-press or in the maps, book prints or other engravings belonging to the book have been made, and a copy of the first or some preceding edition of which book has been delivered under this act, or (ii) any newspaper published in conformity with the rules -laid down in section 5 of this act - - - - - pena!ty for 13 whoever shall keep in his possession any such press as ~:~mgwith_ aforesaid, without making such a declaration as is required by out 1ara~ng section 4 of this act, shall, on conviction before a magistrate, be :~ui~onby punished by fine not exceeding two thousand rupees, or by simple section 4 imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or by both - - - - - punishmc~ u any person who shall, in making any declaration under the ~~e m::~! authority of this act, make a statement which is false, and which ment he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, shall, on conviction before a magistrate, be punished by fine not exceeding two thousand rupees, and imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months  - - - - - part v  registration of booksregi,tration 18 there shall be kept at such office, and by such officer as the ~ m~state government shall appoint in this behalf a book to be called book! a catalogue of books printed in india, wherein shall be registered a memorandum of every book whi~h shall have been delivered pursuant to clause (a) of the first paragraph of section 9 of this act such memoranclum shall (so, far as may be practicable) contain the following particulars (that is t~ say):-(1) the title of the book and the contents of the title-page, with a translation into english of such title and contents, when the same are not 1n the english language; (2) the language in which the book is written; (3) the name of the author, translator or editor of the book or any part thereof; (4) the subject; (5) the place of printing--and the place of publication; (6) the name or firm of the printer and the name or firm of the publisher; (7) the date of issue from the press or of the publication; (8) the number of sheets, leaves or pages; (9) the size; (10) the first, second or other number of the edition; (11) the number of copies of which the edition consists; (12) whether the book is printed or lithographed; (13) the price at which the book is sold to the public; and (14) the name and residence of the proprietor of the copyright or of any portion of such copyright such memorandum shall be made and registered in the case of each book as soon as practicable after the delivery of the copy thereof pursuant to clause (a) of the first paragraph of section 9  part vi miscellaneous20 the state government shall have power to make such rules power to as may be necessary or desirable for carrying out the objects of make rules this act, and from time to time to repeal, alter and add to such rules all such rules, and all repeals and alterations thereof, and addi- publication tions thereto, shall be published in the official gazette a bill further to amend the press and registration of books act, 1867 the president has, in pursuance of clause (3) of article i 17 of the constitution of india, recommended to lok sabha the consideration of the bill m n kaul, secretary, dr b v keskar, minister of in/ormation and broadcasting gipd-lad-s3s ls-29-1-s5-17s0 