The two Members of the Press Association in PCI- Mr Jaishankar Gupta and Mr C K Nayak expressed utter surprise that the Council was not taken into confidence in such a grave matter. The full Council met on August 22, 2019 for the whole day but there was no mention of this petition which was already been filed in the Supreme Court of India before that.

On the other hand in the PCI meeting Members had moved a resolution on the prevailing media situation in J&K which was not even taken up for consideration nor was the opinion of the Members sought. The Council constituted a Committee to look into the media situation in J&K but the Chairman never mentioned anything about the writ petition in the meeting.

The twin objective of the PCI is to maintain freedom of the press and improve standard of journalism. But since August 5, 2019 no newspaper could be published nor could any agency function in J&K.

Notably, Ms Bhasin had filed a writ petition in the apex court on August 10 challenging curbs on media freedom in the state and sought directions to immediately relax all restrictions on mobile, internet and landline services. The petition also asked for a relaxation of all restrictions on the freedom of movement of journalists and media personnel in Kashmir and some districts of Jammu in order to enable them to freely practice their profession.