Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday presented the G.K. Reddy Memorial National Award to late veteran journalist Vinod Mehta.
The award was received by Vinod Mehta's wife, Sumita Mehta.
"Throughout his life Vinod Mehta was a passionate upholder of democracy and secular ideas. He was also a courageous crusader for the causes that he believed were just and a proud and eloquent advocate of our pluralistic society," Sonia said while addressing the gathering.
"He had an instinctive understanding of what the freedom of press meant to our country, that it is a corner stone of our democracy and without this freedom all our other liberties would be threatened," she added.
Vinod Mehta, who was the editorial chairman of Outlook India magazine, breathed his last on March 8 after prolonged illness. He was 72 years old.
Mehta was one of the most influential editors and had launched a number of successful publications such as the Sunday Observer, Indian Post, The Independent and The Pioneer (Delhi edition).
