State level media certification, monitoring committee formed

• The Election Commission (EC) has set up a committee to check the practice of paid news during Lok Sabha polls.
• The Commission has appointed Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at district and state-level, which will scrutinize all media within its jurisdiction to identify political advertisement in the garb of news.
• Trends will be observed and reports will be compiled by the committee, which will give daily report on all advertising expenditure of a candidate, including suspected cases of paid news along with supportive documents.
• Press Council of India also has well-drafted guidelines on the issue.
• Paid news menace is virtually negligible in the north-eastern states, in states like Punjab, the number of cases in the previous polls were high.
• Display of election matter in electronic media during 48 hours before the poll is restricted under Section 126B of the Representation of the People’s Act.
• Publicity material to be released by political parties on social media would also be covered under the Act.
• The contesting candidates would also have to submit the details of their accounts on social media while filing nominations.
• If any other person has to carry out publicity campaign for a candidate or party on social media, in that case, such person would have to get an authorized certificate to this effect from such candidate or party.

About Press Council of India

• The Press Council of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. 
• It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained.
• The Press Council is headed by a Chairman: usually a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India (except for the first chairman, Justice J. R. Mudholkar, who was a sitting judge of Supreme Court of India in 1968). 
• The Council consists of 28 other members of whom 20 represent the press and are nominated by the press organizations/news agencies recognized and notified by the Council as all India bodies of categories such as editors, working journalists and owners and managers of newspaper; 5 members are nominated from the two houses of Parliament and 3 represent cultural, literary and legal fields as nominees of the Sahitya Academy, University Grants Commission (U.G.C.) and the Bar Council of India. 
• The members serve on the Council for a term of three years.

About The Representation of the People’s Act

• The Representation of People Act, 1951 is the Act of Parliament of India, which explains about the conduct of the elections of both the Houses of the Parliament. 
• The Act also explains about the qualifications and disqualifications for the membership of these houses, offences or the corrupt practices.
• The Act came into force by the provisional parliament under Article 379 of Indian Constitution. 
• The Representation of People Act, 1951 was amended various times. 
• The most notable amendment was the one which abolished election tribunals. 
• The election petitions were thus transferred to the High Courts of India, the orders of which could be appealed to the Supreme Court of India.

Rulings of the Supreme Court of India and the Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013

The Supreme Court of India, in the case of Chief Election Commissioner vs Jan Chowkidar, on 10 July 2013 upheld the decision of the Patna High Court that any person confined in prison or lawful police custody is not entitled to vote under the Section 62 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951. Also, the Apex Court gave its verdict that the imprisoned person is not entitled to contest the elections to the Parliament of India or the State Legislatures. 

The Supreme Court of India in the case of Lily Thomas vs Union of India, held the decision that Section 8(4) of the RPA that enables the MPs and MLAs who are convicted of any crime or illegal offence while serving the term as the members, to continue in the office until the appeal has been disposed off against the conviction, is absolutely unconstitutional.