West Bengal government issues orders prohibiting officials to speak to media

Key points

• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal has issued an order prohibiting government officials and police from speaking to the media.
• The circular titled Dissemination of Information by any member of the All India Service, West Bengal Civil Service, West Bengal Police Service and other employees working under the Government of West Bengal directs a complete prohibition “without any government order, on any direct or indirect communication of any document or information with the press by the members of the services”.
• The government order also directs a complete prohibition on members of the services in indulging in any adverse criticism of any policy or decision of the Central or the State government as well as complete prohibition on any publication, interaction, utterance, publication, broadcast, contribution in any media, which can lead to straining of the relations of the State government with the Central government or any State governments....