Judgement

S. R. DAS CJI.- In these two petitions under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India the petitioners call in question the validity of the Punjab Special Powers (Press) Act, 1956 (being Act No. 38 of 1956), hereinafter referred to as "the impugned Act", and pray for an appropriate writ or order directing the respondents to withdraw the Notifications issued by them on the two petitioners as the editors, printers and publishers of two newspapers Pratap and Vir Arjun.

2. The Daily Pratap was started about 38 years back in Lahore, the capital of the united Punjab. It is a daily newspaper printed in the Urdu language and script. Since the partition of the country the Daily Pratap is being published simultaneously from Jullundur and from New Delhi. Vir Arjun is a Hindi daily newspaper also published simultaneously from Jullundur and from New Delhi.

Virendra, the petitioner, in Petition No. 95 of 1957 is the editor, printer and publisher of the two papers published from Jullundur and K. Narendra is the editor, printer and publisher of the two papers published from New Delhi.

3. The petitioners allege that after the appointment of the States Reorganisation Commission on December 29, 1953, the Akali party in the Punjab started a campaign for the partition of the State of Punjab on communal and linguistic basis. According to the petitioners this agitation soon degenerated into a campaign of hatred which threatened the peace of the State. The petitioners maintain that the Hindu inhabitants of the State belonging to all shades of opinion and also a section of the Sikh community and the Congress Party were strongly opposed to that proposal.

It is in the circumstances reasonable to infer that the Hindus would also indulge in a counter propaganda in the Press and from the platform against the agitation started by the Akali party. It is admitted that the policy of these two papers, the Daily Pratap and Vir Arjun, has been to oppose the Akali demand for partition of the State of Punjab. Obviously a good deal of tension was generated in the State by reason of the two bitterly opposing parties trying to propagate their Respective ideologies.

About a year back the Congress Party, which is the ruling party, is said to have surrendered to the communal pressure of the Akalies and accepted what has since come to be known as the regional formula. It was amidst the din and bustle of this ideological war and to prevent and combat any possible activity prejudicial to the maintenance of communal harmony that the Legislature of the State of Punjab found it necessary to pass the impugned Act which received the assent of the President on October 19, 1956, and came into force on the 25th of the same month.

4. The provisions of the impugned Act, in so far as they are material, may now be referred to. Section 2(1)(a) runs as follows:

"2(1) The State Government or any authority so authorised in this behalf if satisfied that such action is or necessary for the purpose of preventing or combating any activity prejudicial to the maintenance of communal harmony affecting or likely to affect public order in writing addressed to a printer, publisher or editor-

(a) prohibit the printing or publication in any document or any class of documents of any matter relating to a particular subject or class of subjects for a specified period or in a particular issue or issues of a newspaper or periodical;

Provided that no such order shall remain in force for more than two months from the making thereof;

Provided further that the person against whom the order has been made may within ten days of the passing of his order make a representation to the state Government which may on consideration thereof modify, confirm or rescind the order,"

Section 2 (1) (b) authorises the State Government or any authority so authorised in this behalf to require that any matter covering not more than two columns be published in any particular issue or issues of a newspaper or periodical on paymen