1. A bill is a proposed law presented in parliament or state assembly. It becomes an act after being passed by both houses of parliament/assembly, ratified by the president/governor, and notified in the official gazette. 2. An act is implemented by the executive like government officers and ministries. It can establish rules or norms that are generally followed. 3. Evidence presented during a trial can include witnesses, records, documents or materials and is considered in determining if an accused is convicted or acquitted of charges.

1. BA (JMC) 104: Media Laws and Ethics
Unit-1: Freedom of Press & Indian Constitution
Dr Susmita Bala
Bill
A Bill is a proposed law which is presented and discussed in parliament or state assembly. It is
called an Act when passed by the legislature.
A Bill is initiated by the government, drafted by the ministry concerned and presented in
parliament/assembly by the minister of that ministry. It has to be passed by both houses of
parliament/assembly as per procedure laid down in Indian Constitution. In a state where is just
one house i.e. Legislative Assembly, a bill is to be passed by that house only.
Ratification and Notification: A Bill becomes an Act after ratification by the President
(Governor in the case of a state). However, An Act can be implemented only after its notification
in the official gazette.
Example- Broadcasting Service Regulation Bill 2007 which was presented and discussed in
Parliament, but could not be passed by both houses.
Act
When a Bill is passed by legislature i.e. Parliament or state Legislature, ratified by the President
(Governor in states) and notified by the government with publication in the official gazette
becomes an Act. Following this the process of implementation starts.
Implementation by Executive: An Act is implemented by the executive i.e. government
officers including civil administrative and police officials and other officers.
Example- Prasar Bharti Act is to be implemented by officers in the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting. And Epidemic Diseases Act is to be implemented by civil and police officers.
Norm
Standard or pattern as represented by a group or section or sector is called a norm.
Example- While doing a particular kind of coverage, a newspaper tries to follow the same pattern
or maintain the same standard as done by other newspapers.
In legal proceeding, the same pattern is to be followed by the court while conducting the trial and
disposing of cases.
Practices set a norm: Norms can be set by an authority or institution and then other authorities
and institutions are expected to follow that. Norms are usually unwritten but they can even be
formulated.
Norms are developed through practice over the year as in newspapers, news writing style
remains the same like use of five W's and one H.
In legal proceedings- charge sheet filed, charges framed, hearing begins, affidavit and counter
affidavit filed, lawyers allowed to argue, witnesses produced, etc.

2. Convention
Agreement: It is an agreement between two states (or more countries), but it is less formal than
treaty. Example- Geneva Convection about the treatment of POWs (Prisoners of War).
Custom: It is a practice or custom based on general consent to follow the things which are
customary and traditional.
Example- legal or constitutional practices
In Britain no written constitution and the governance take place through conventions.
Regulation
It is a rule, order or direction issued by an authority. It can also be defined as a set of rules or the
whole body of laws considered collectively.
Regulations are binding in nature and involves penalty if not followed. They can be formulated
not only by the government but also by such other organizations which are involved in
governance and administration.
Example- Safety Regulation in factory, Rules of Conduct in educational institutions
Violation of regulations involve penalty.
Ordinance
Ordinance is a law made and enforced by the government when parliament/assembly is not in
session. It is as valid and effective as an Act passed by parliament/assembly.
Limited life: It has the maximum life of 6 months but it has to be replaced by an Act of
parliament/assembly within 6 weeks once the regular session of the legislature starts.
An ordinance can be re-promulgated but it is considered manipulation of constitutional
provisions.
Example- Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) was brought by the government to deal
with the problem of terrorism, but in the ensuing session of parliament in 2002, this ordinance
was placed by an Act named as Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
Code
Code means collection or codification of laws in a proper order on specific subject.
Binding Codes: Certain codes are binding in nature.
Example- IPC (Indian Penal Code), CRPC (Criminal Procedure Code)
Voluntary Codes: It also means a system of rules and principles that has been accepted by the
society or a class or a group of people.
Example- Code of Ethics for journalist as prescribed by a professional body like Press Council of
India or Editors Guild of India
Observance to such codes is voluntary in nature.

3. Statute
Statute refers to laws passed by Parliament or State legislature.
Set of rules: Statute means set of rules or set of Acts. This term is also used for all the laws
taken collectively. A set of rules or laws can also be defined as a statute.
Focused, limited in scope: There may be slight different between an Act and statute. An Act has
universal application which means that it is applied to whole of area for which it has been made,
where a statute is made for a specific purpose and is limited in its scope.
Example- Statute of a public sector undertaking, statute of GGS IP University
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written statement of facts, voluntarily made by a person on oath. The oath is
administered by a lawyer who is authorized to do so by law.
Whatever plaintiff or defendant wants to state before the court of law is mentioned in the
affidavit. Anything mentioned in an affidavit has to be true and authentic. Mentioning of
factually incorrect information in affidavit can invite legal action.
Accused
A person who has been charged with an offence is called an accused.
An accused cannot be treated or projected as criminal until his/her conviction. Media persons
have to be careful of this aspect.
After police mention somebody’s name as accused in the charge sheet, he/she has to face the
trial. If charges are proved, he/she will be convicted; if not found guilty, he/she will be acquitted.
Acquittal
Acquittal means not guilty, and letting the accused free.
If an accused, charged of committing a crime by the prosecutor, is declared not guilty by the
court, an order for acquittal will be issued following which he/she will be released.
Bail
Bail is requested by an accused and granted by a court of law for the release pending to trial.
In law, bail is considered a right of the accused, and not granting the bail is an exception.
Bailable/Non-bailable offences: However, crimes have been put into two categories under
Indian Penal Code (IPC) – bailable and non-bailable. For offences under non-bailable category,
bail is not granted by the court and the accused has to be in jail as undertrial till the completion
of trial.
Surety: If bail is granted, a sum of money demanded by a court of law has to be paid by or for
an accused as surety. The accused has to commit that he/she will appear for his/her trial until
which time he/she is allowed to go free.

4. Conviction
Conviction means punishment to an accused after he/she has been found guilty by a court of law
following completion of trial.
This is a formal declaration that the accused has been found guilty and the punishment will
follow. A convict is sent to jail following court order.
Defendant
Defendant is a person against whom charges have been framed by the police in a case and he/she
has to defend himself/herself in a court of law.
In a civil case, a defendant is a person against whom somebody (plaintiff) files a civil suit in the
court.
The defendant has to prove not guilty in the court, else he/she can be punished.
Evidence
The proof presented during a trial in the court in the form of witnesses, records, documents or
material objects is called evidence.
In a criminal case, evidence has to be produced in a court by the prosecution. In a civil case,
evidence can be produced by the plaintiff or defendant in support of their respective stand in the
court.
Plaintiff
Plaintiff is a person who seeks a remedy for an injury to his rights in a court of law.
In other words, plaintiff is a party who initiates a law suit by filing a complaint against
somebody. The person against whom the suit is brought is known as defendant. .
Prosecution
An act or process of initiating legal proceedings against somebody is called prosecution.
In a criminal case, prosecutor is the state i.e. police along with government lawyer. The
responsibility of contesting the case and producing evidences remain on the prosecutor.
Sub-judice
A case under consideration of a court of law is called sub-judice.
Till the time a trial or hearing of a case is in the process, the matter is considered sub-judice.
In policy or governance related issues, even a government is restrained taking any action with
regard to a matter which is sub-judice.