TWO KERALA TV CHANNELS TAKEN OFF AIR

The I&B ministry on Friday suspended the broadcast of Media One and Asianet News TV for 48 hours, saying their coverage of the recent Delhi riots could “enhance” communal disharmony.

nNEW DELHI: The information and broadcasting ministry said on Friday it was suspending the transmission of two Malayalam news channels for 48 hours over their coverage of the recent violence in north-east Delhi, adding that the reports they ran could “enhance communal disharmony”.

Following the responses of the two channels – Asianet News TV and Media One – to a show-cause notice, the government said it found them in violation of the programme code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The ministry ordered the prohibition of transmission or re-transmission of the channels for 48 hours with effect from 7.30pm on March 6. According to Rule 6(1)(c) of the Act, no broadcast should contain an attack on religions or communities, or visuals or words contemptuous of religious groups.

The orders issued to the two channels cited instances of reporting that were found to be in violation of the rules.

“While reporting such critical incident, the channel (Asianet News) should have taken utmost care and should have reported it in a balanced way.

Such reporting could enhance the communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile,” the order on Asianet News TV said. In its response to the notice, the channel said its reports were factual and never intended to attack a religion or a community.

The ministry’s order on Media One also raised questions on the channel’s content, and said that the ministry previously issued advisories that norms should be followed.

In its response to the ministry’s notice earlier, Media One said it reported what its correspondents witnessed on the ground.

When contacted, a senior editor of Asianet News TV said: “It was least expected. The management will give an explanation later.” he said.

Representatives of Media One refused a comment on the issue.

DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday extended till March 16 the interim protection from arrest granted to civil rights activists Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee said it would hear on March 16 the appeals filed by Navlakha and Teltumbde against a Bombay High Court order of last month rejecting their anticipatory bail pleas. The high court, while refusing to grant anticipatory bail to Navlakha and Teltumbde on February 14, had extended their interim protection from arrest for a period of four weeks . Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A M Singhvi, appearing for the activists, told the apex court that protection granted to them by the high court would expire on March 14 and the top court should extend it.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that probe in the Bhima Koregaon violence case has been transferred to the NIA. “We have not received any such notice,” Singhvi said.

To this, the bench told Sibal and Singhvi that they can implead the NIA as a party in the case.