I&B Ministry suggests replacement of PRB act 1867

In a move to do away with ‘The Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867’, a British era regulation, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry has come out with a draft of the “Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill 2019. The draft bill proposes a simple system of registration of e-papers/digital media.

Through the draft bill, the Ministry has proposed to do away with prosecution provisions of imprisonment of publishers and to simplify implementation of the registration process through a newly-created Press Registrar General. The proposed draft also prohibits a person from bringing out a publication who has been convicted by any court for an offence involving terror acts or unlawful activities and for having done anything against the security of the State.