Eight channels ordered to go off air in last three years, says I&B Ministry
Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, MoS in the I&B Ministry, says government ordered eight private TV channels to go off air for telecasting content in violation of the Programme and Advertisement codes during the last three years and the current year
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered eight private TV channels to go off air for telecasting content in violation of the Programme and Advertisement codes during the last three years and the current year, revealed Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State in the I&B Ministry.
The private TV channels which were ordered to go off air, as per the ministry’s submission in Rajya Sabha, are NTV, Satlon News, Jai Hind, Aljazeera TV, Care World, News Time Assam, VTV and DY 365.
In November 2016, the government had also ordered NDTV India to go off air for disclosing sensitive information in one of its reports. However, the order was later taken back.
According to the ministry’s response, Aljazeera TV was ordered to go off air for telecast of News report carrying “wrong graphical map of India repeatedly”.
The maximum punishment, of all the eight channels in the list, was given to Satlon News on 27 March, 2015 for telecasting “a news report about a private corporate party organised in a five star hotel on the Pune-Mumbai highway”. The channel was ordered to go off air for 30 days.
NTV was issued an order on 19 January 2016, to go off air for seven days for telecasting a “song-based programme ‘Cine Colors’”.
Rathore also submitted in his answer raised in the Rajya Sabha that:
As per existing regulatory framework, all programmes and advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels and transmitted/re-transmitted through the Cable TV network are required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 framed thereunder. The Act does not provide for pre-censorship of any programme or advertisement telecast on such TV channels. However, all programmes and advertisements are required to be in conformity with the said Programme and Advertising Codes which contain a whole range of parameters to regulate programmes and advertisements including provisions to address content of indecency, provocative and inflammatory news on TV.
The Ministry has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Ministry of I&B and comprising officers drawn from Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, External Affairs, Law, Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, Consumer Affairs and a representative from the industry in Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to take cognizance suo-motu or look into specific complaints regarding violation of the Programme and Advertising Codes. The IMC functions in a recommendatory capacity. The final decision regarding penalties and its quantum is taken by the Ministry on the basis of the IMC recommendations.
Further, as part of the self-regulation mechanism, News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has set up News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) in 2008 and formulated a Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards covering a wide range of principles to self-regulate news broadcasting. Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has set up Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) for self-regulation in case of non-news channels. As part of this, IBF has laid down Content Code & Certification Rules 2011 covering an entire gamut of content-related principles and criteria for television broadcast.
The above mechanism has also been acknowledged by the Supreme Court of India in its order dated 12.01.2017 in the matter of WP(C) No.387 of 2000 – Common Cause vs UOI & Ors.
The private TV channels which were ordered to go off air, as per the ministry’s submission in Rajya Sabha, are NTV, Satlon News, Jai Hind, Aljazeera TV, Care World, News Time Assam, VTV and DY 365.
In November 2016, the government had also ordered NDTV India to go off air for disclosing sensitive information in one of its reports. However, the order was later taken back.
According to the ministry’s response, Aljazeera TV was ordered to go off air for telecast of News report carrying “wrong graphical map of India repeatedly”.
The maximum punishment, of all the eight channels in the list, was given to Satlon News on 27 March, 2015 for telecasting “a news report about a private corporate party organised in a five star hotel on the Pune-Mumbai highway”. The channel was ordered to go off air for 30 days.
NTV was issued an order on 19 January 2016, to go off air for seven days for telecasting a “song-based programme ‘Cine Colors’”.
Rathore also submitted in his answer raised in the Rajya Sabha that:
As per existing regulatory framework, all programmes and advertisements telecast on private satellite TV channels and transmitted/re-transmitted through the Cable TV network are required to adhere to the Programme Code and Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 framed thereunder. The Act does not provide for pre-censorship of any programme or advertisement telecast on such TV channels. However, all programmes and advertisements are required to be in conformity with the said Programme and Advertising Codes which contain a whole range of parameters to regulate programmes and advertisements including provisions to address content of indecency, provocative and inflammatory news on TV.
The Ministry has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Ministry of I&B and comprising officers drawn from Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, External Affairs, Law, Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, Consumer Affairs and a representative from the industry in Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to take cognizance suo-motu or look into specific complaints regarding violation of the Programme and Advertising Codes. The IMC functions in a recommendatory capacity. The final decision regarding penalties and its quantum is taken by the Ministry on the basis of the IMC recommendations.
Further, as part of the self-regulation mechanism, News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has set up News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) in 2008 and formulated a Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards covering a wide range of principles to self-regulate news broadcasting. Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has set up Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) for self-regulation in case of non-news channels. As part of this, IBF has laid down Content Code & Certification Rules 2011 covering an entire gamut of content-related principles and criteria for television broadcast.
The above mechanism has also been acknowledged by the Supreme Court of India in its order dated 12.01.2017 in the matter of WP(C) No.387 of 2000 – Common Cause vs UOI & Ors.
Tags
e4m
