Pradeep Nandrajog, J.

1. The writ petitioner seeks a direction from this Court to rectify what the petitioner perceives to be a lacuna in the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) regarding the definition of 'Editor' in the context of the proviso to sub-Section 8 of Section 5 of the said Act. The prayer in the petition to remove respondent No. 3 from the post of Editor of the daily newspaper: 'The Hindu', was rendered infructuous because during the pendency of the writ petition the respondent No. 3 resigned from the post of Editor of 'The Hindu' and thus the issue was argued in Court on the larger issue: Whether citizenship of India should be the pre-requisite for a person to be appointed as the Editor of a publication in India.

2. A journey, concerning the interpretation of a statute, must commence by highlighting the statutory provision around which the debate centers, including its historical perspective, and thus we straight away proceed to note the applicable statutory provisions.

3. The word 'Editor' has been defined by the said Act:-

'Editor' means the person who controls the selection of the matter that is published in a new