Most Media in India is Controlled by Industries and These are the Industries that Fund Govt Through Electoral Bonds: Kapil Sibal

“If the pillars of democracy break, it doesn’t matter how often you read the provisions of the constitution. The code print of the constitution has no relevance when the pillars itself are broken,” said Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal at a webinar, “Changing Face of Global Democracy” organised by Lecture Series on Law.

The webinar opened with Sibal highlighting the recent trends in global politics and the government’s attempts to control the mainstream media. Expounding on the nexus between the media, industries and the government, he observed:

“Most media in India is controlled by industries and these are the industries which fund the government through electoral bonds. This is why over 90% of all contributions are given by this very industry, which controls the media, to the PM CARES Fund. Industries need favours from the government on a daily basis, then industries control the media and then the industry funds the government. That is how the nexus between the media, government and the industry is formed.”

He expressed that in countries like India, where liberal democratic institutions are fragile, institutions won’t be able to stand up to the use of technology, authoritarianism and money power that would silence dissent.  

He compared India with liberal democracies like the United States and the European Union. He expressed that in countries like India, where liberal democratic institutions are fragile, institutions won’t be able to stand up to the use of technology, authoritarianism and money power that would silence dissent.

Commenting on the way a few bills were passed during the pandemic, without consulting the opposition or the stakeholders, Sibal observed: “When you want to bring a paradigm shift through a policy decision, whether it is demonetization, GST, Farm bills or controlling the social media, you require debate and consultation. Consultation not just within government but with Government by the stakeholders. And there are a variety of stakeholders as far as farm bills are concerned, including the state, the parliament, and the farm unions who were not at all consulted.”

Senior Advocate Mrunalini Deshmukh noted that the essence of democracy is that the voice of every individual, even if it is against the government or its policies, must be heard. She called the branding of citizens as anti-national, by the government, as “unacceptable” and antithetical to democratic values.

Sibal observed: “When you want to bring a paradigm shift through a policy decision, whether it is demonetization, GST, Farm bills or controlling the social media, you require debate and consultation. Consultation not just within government but with Government by the stakeholders.

“Questioning the policy is not anti-national but assisting the government to continue their governance in a better and proactive way…Democracy entails ‘Freedom of Speech’ and Freedom after Speech. Right to dissent is an integral component to a free society and a Fundamental Right, enshrined and guaranteed by the Constitution of India,” she said.

Referring to the recent Uttar Pradesh’s Law on “Love-Jihad” and the rising religious intolerance, Deshmukh remarked that religion was a private space in a democratic setup. The basic fibre of the constitution today is compromised due to the rising religious intolerance, she said.

“Where I cannot marry according to my own free will and it is the government which will decide whether my marriage to a particular person of a particular faith is a force or coercion on me and they will decide whether it is a crime or not; Is this the democracy we are looking at?” Deshmukh questioned.

Where I cannot marry according to my own free will and it is the government which will decide whether my marriage to a particular person of a particular faith is a force or coercion on me and they will decide whether it is a crime or not; Is this the democracy we are looking at?” Deshmukh questioned. 

Answering a question on the role of strong opposition in curbing one-party dominance, Sibal remarked that a strong opposition is also dependent on the structural mechanism in place. If all the major institutions in this country are controlled, there would never be a strong opposition as its voice would never be heard. While pronouncing a need for a national agitation he opined:

“The fight for this country is to have a revival of the institutions. We need a national agitation to ensure that media is not controlled by the government, that education is not controlled by the government through the appointment of Vice-Chancellors having an RSS background and that social media is not controlled by trollers who are funded by the government. If all of these institutions are controlled, there would never be a strong opposition as its voice would not be  heard.”

(Aman Garg is a law student from the Gujarat National Law University and an intern with The Leaflet.)