Section 066 in The Press And Registration Of Books Act, 1867
066.
Statement of Objects and Reasons.-It has for many years been the endeavour of the authorities to make a collection of the books and other publications emanating from the various printing presses at work throughout the country.It was an instruction of the late Court of Directors of the East India Company, that copies of every important and interesting work published should be despatched to England to be deposited in the library of the India House.And again, on the urgent requisition of the Royal Asiatic Society in London the Secretary of State for India repeated the instructions of the late Court of Directors, and desired also that catalogues of all works published in India should be sent to England.The above instructions had special reference to the province of Lower Bengal, and the local authorities of this province were set in motion and on a plan suggested by Mr. Talboys Wheeler of the Home Office, and matured by Mr. Robinson Bengalee Translator to the Government of Bengal, a system of registration of books on terms advantageous to publishers was notified, and a catalogue of books published in the province of Lower Bengal was prepared.But this catalogue had necessarily to be prepared by its editor, not with the books before him, but from such imperfect and scattered notices and advertisements of such books as he could collect from newspapers and other such sources, and was found therefore to be to a great extent, and essentially, incorrect, and the registration system completely broke down, there having been but three applications for registration in the course of some nine months.To send to England catalogues essentially and to a considerable extent incorrect, of only such books as can be routed out by private and perfunctory enquiries, is manifestly of no sort of use.Yet the catalogue prepared in 1862, imperfect as it was showed a list of some one thousand and five hundred books of more or less interest and importance, all published within the last ten or fifteen years, and it is notorious that, in the province of Lower Bengal at least, there has been of late years very great activity in the literary world and every year shows no inconsiderable increase in the number of works, original or reprinted published and in the number of printing presses established.The literature of a country is no doubt an index of the opinions and condition of the people and such an index it is essential to good government that the rulers of a country should possess.In the interest, too, of history and of the scholars of Europe, it is undoubtedly wise to provide that a complete collection of the publications of the press of this country should be made as well in this country as in England.It cannot but be of benefit to authors and publishers that catalogues of their works, and to a very limited extent copies of the works themselves, should be accessible to the public in certain well-known places.Systems of voluntary registrations of publications'have been found to fail and it is therefore proposed by this Bill to establish a system of compulsory sale to Government of three copies of each book or similar work printed in India. These copies will be paid for at the rate at which the book is bona fide sold for cash to the public.One copy of the work will be sent to England, and the two others, after the book has been registered, will be kept in this country, to be deposited in places-the proposed new museum for instance-where they will be carefully preserved.A list of works registered will be published each quarter in the Official Gazette.It is not quite clear that the provisions of the proposed Bill are as yet required in any Province other than that of Lower Bengal, but inasmuch as the said provisions are reasonable and simple and inasmuch as it is certain that with the spread of education there will arise in the other Provinces of the Empire, as there has arisen in Bengal, a corresponding activity in literature, it is provided that the Bill may be extended by notification to any part of the Empire.Amending Act 55 of 1955-Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The 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. Based 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 Registrar for the purpose of registration of all newspapers published in India and for the collection, maintenance and publication of information concerning them.Amending Act 26 of 1960-Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The Press and Registration of Books Act was amended in 1955 to provide inter alia for setting up of a machinery under a Central Press Registrar for the collection of statistics relating to newspapers, maintenance of a register of newspapers and other ancillary matters. The working of this Act during the last few years has revealed certain anomalies and difficulties and it is proposed to remove them by suitably amending the Act for the purpose.2. Under the existing law, there is no specific provision for the cancellation of any declaration once it has been authenticated. This has sometimes led to a situation where a declaration had to be allowed to continue, although it was found defective in law. It is, therefore, proposed to empower a Magistrate to cancel a declaration under certain circumstances. This power of cancellation will be exercised only after giving the persons affected an opportunity of showing cause against the action proposed to be taken. In case where a proprietor or any other person feels aggrieved by an order of a Magistrate cancelling a declaration it is proposed to provide for an appeal against such order to a Board to be set up by the Central Government. It is also proposed that an appeal might lie to the same Board when a Magistrate refuses to authenticate a declaration made by a person.3. Under the existing law it is possible for a newspaper to continue publication uninterrupted without filing a fresh declaration even when the ownership changes. It is proposed to make the filing of a declaration obligatory in such cases and to provide that the printer and the publisher should be authorised in writing by the owner to file such declarations. The filing of a fresh declaration is also made necessary when the language or periodicity of a newspaper changes or when a publisher or a printer is incapable of carrying out his duties for a period exceeding thirty days.4. Though the Act contemplates that the printer, publisher and editor of a newspaper should ordinarily be residents in India, there is no specific provision to this effect in the Act. It is proposed to make this poi--it clear beyond any possibility of doubt.5. In order to associate the owner of a newspaper with the responsibility of its publication and printing, it is proposed to provide that every copy of the newspaper should contain the name of the owner thereof, in addition to the names of its printer, publisher and editor. It is also proposed to provide that every copy of the newspaper should contain the date of its publication.
