Rakul Preet Singh's Case : Delhi HC Directs I&B Ministry To Act Against News Channels Not Part Of NBSA Which Violated Program Code

Hearing a petition by actor Rakul Preet Singh seeking action against media channels for allegedly broadcasting maligning campaign against her, the Delhi High Court today directed the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to take action against media channels that are not members of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) if they are found guilty of the allegations. The court had issued notice on Singh's plea in September last year, after she filed a petition against media channels for allegedly linking her to a drug fiasco after her name surfaced during the investigation related to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The single judge bench of Justice Prathiba Singh today directed the I&B Ministry to take action against channels that are found to have violated the Programme Code in the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The court also took on record the Ministry's affidavit filed through advocate Ajay Digpaul pursuant to the court's earlier order which had directed it to file a status report on the case. The report states that acting upon the Court's order, the Ministry has treated Singh's petition as a representation and forwarded the same to the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and called for a report on the same after due examination. The NBA is a private association of different current affairs and news television broadcasters in India. It was established by some Indian news broadcasters in 2007. The ministry stated that it has also issued an advisory to all private satellite TV channels for adherence with the Programme Code. The report also states that as per information from the NBA, the News Broadcasting Standard Authority (NBSA) has passed 10 orders in respect of the complaint filed by the actor, taking action on news reports/ programmes telecast by 13 TV channels including OTV, ETV Andhra Pradesh, CNN News 18, ABP News, Zee News, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Hindustan, India Today, Aaj Tak, News Nation, India TV, Times Now, and Asianet News TV. The ministry also informed the Court that they are examining an additional representation by Singh dated Dec 30, which refers to video links of additional allegedly offending broadcasts. The petition was filed by advocates Aman Hingorani, Shweta Hingorani and Himanshu Yadav. The actress had stated that the "slander campaign" being run by the media against her had done irreparable damage to her and her family, and largely invaded her right to privacy and affected her commercial interests adversely

Rakul Preet Singh's Case : Delhi HC Directs I&B Ministry To Act Against News Channels Not Part Of NBSA Which Violated Program Code

Shreya Singhal

Tags