NEW DELHI: The country’s top lawyers have expressed concern over the continued disruption in the distribution of newspapers even when they have been categorized an essential service and said that obstructing delivery not only impedes the availability of reliable information at a time of unprecedented public heath emergency but also constitutes an offence under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).
Renowned lawyer Harish Salve, who has served as solicitor general and who represented India at International Court of Justice to save Kulbhushan Yadav from imminent execution in Pakistan, expressed serious concern over difficulties and impediments being faced by newspapers in distribution.
“In this world of social media, where gossip and propaganda are elevated to the status of the gospel, the printed word on a responsible newspaper is clearly an essential service. In these difficult times, news in articles by responsible journalists, which informs without creating a sense of panic or despair, is essential for survival”, Salve told TOI.
“Newspapers are clearly an essential commodity particularly in these warlike conditions where we are fighting an invisible enemy of whom we know s
