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Plea against FDI in print media misconceived: Govt.

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI JULY 18. The Union Government has told the Madras High Court that the public interest litigation petition against the foreign direct investment in print media was misconceived and lacked any locus as it pertained to a government decision governing "future grant of permission under the Foreign Exchange Management Act".

(On Monday, the court admitted a petition by M.S. Sivakumar of Chennai, and ordered notices to the Centre and the RBI. The matter will come up before the First Bench on Friday, when the Solicitor-General of India, Harish Salve, is expected to make his submissions).

A counter-affidavit, filed on behalf of the Centre today, contended that it was a high economic policy decision, the specifics of which would "evolve as and when concrete applications for investment proposals are received and processed by the Government".

``The decisions of this nature, which are of purely a policy direction and not a specific grant of permission under a statute, are amenable to judicial review,'' the counter said.

``There are no judicially manageable standards by which the wisdom or otherwise of such decisions can be enquired into...It is the decision-making process and not the actual decision which is susceptible to review.

The petitioner has not alleged that the decision-making process is flawed in any manner. This being so, the correctness and wisdom of the decision cannot be subject to a challenge in this fashion,'' it added.

Noting that the Centre's policy on foreign investment in print media was, hitherto, guided by a Cabinet decision of 1955, the counter said that a comprehensive review of the whole matter had been carried out now.

``The decision has now been partially modified in order to provide for publication of Indian editions of foreign-owned, technical, scientific and speciality magazines/periodicals/journals on a case-by-case basis.

``The policy would provide for 26 per cent FDI in Indian entities publishing newspapers/periodicals dealing with news and current affairs, after suitable verification by the Central Government and the editorial and management control remaining fully in Indian hands,'' the counter-affidavit added.

The counter opposed the very admission of the PIL by the court and prayed for its dismissal with costs.

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