Court stays telecast of ‘UPSC Jihad’ on Sudarshan TV

Telecast of remaining episodes of the programme Bindas Bol halted

The Supreme Court yesterday stayed the telecast of the remaining episodes of the programme Bindas Bol, which claimed to expose the Jihad in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), on Sudarshan TV till further orders.

A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dr DY Chandrahud, ordered the stay after hearing submissions on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Firoz Iqbal Khan against the telecast of the programme and slated it for further hearing tomorrow.

Senior lawyer Anoop George Chaudhari, appearing for the petitioner, said this is a prima facie case of violation of law adding that the Delhi High Court had earlier issued a notice after hearing the plea challenging the go-ahead given by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry.

“If you read and hear the transcript, you will see that they say Muslims are infiltrating the civil services. They say how Muslim, OBCs are eating the share of other OBCs,” Chaudhari said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta

Most of the electronic media and channels are based on TRP and revenue model, so many things may be seen to be beamed on the name of popularity.”

Justice Kurian Joseph | One of the judges in the bench

said that so far as pre-publication restraint is concerned, there is a law laid down in some case way back in 1891. The bench said that it needs to look at the ownership of the visual media.

“Most of the electronic media and channels are based on TRP and revenue model, so many things may be seen to be beamed on the name of popularity,” Justice Kurian Joseph, one of the judges in the bench, observed.

Demeaning dignity

Advocate Sadan Farasat, the lawyer for one of the parties, submitted that it is a clear vilification of the Muslim community. “Hate speech is what? It demeans one’s individuals dignity and respect. It is demeaning one’s dignity,” Farasat said.

Accusing the channel of targeting a particular community, he said that the show starts with Daesh face shots and added that this is nothing but hate speech and communalising something, which is not communal.

“The show basically means all Muslims coming to the UPSC are Jihadis. This is incorrect,” Farasat said.

Senior lawyer Shyam Diwan, appearing for Sudarshan TV, said that this is a case of foreign funding and “we have evidence to show that”.