[Breaking] "You Cannot Target One Community And Brand Them In A Particular Manner": SC Restrains Sudarshan TV From Telecasting "UPSC Jihad" Show [Read Order]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained the Sudarshan TV News from telecasting the remaining episodes of the 'Bindas Bol' show about Muslims clearing the UPSC exam until further orders, after prima facie observing that the object of the show was to vilify Muslims. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra & KM Joseph was hearing a petition filed against the telecast of the show hosted by the channel's Chief Editor Mr. Suresh Chavhanke on the ground that it was communalizing the entry of Muslims into UPSC."At this stage, prima facie, it appears to the court that the object, intent and purpose of the program is to vilify the Muslim community with an insidious attempt to portray them as part of a conspiracy to infiltrate the civil services" , the Court observed in the order.The top court noted in the order that there were factually incorrect statements made in the program regarding the upper age limit and number of attempts for Muslims in UPSC exams."The edifice of a stable democratic society under a regime of constitutional rights and values is founded on the co-existence of communities. India is a melting pot of civilizations, cultures and values. Any attempt to vilify a community must be viewed with great disfavor by this court which is a custodian of constitutional rights", the Court observed.Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the channel and Mr. Chavhanke, staunchly opposed the stay on the telecast by arguing that a prior restraint order will violate free speech.Claiming that the show was part of "investigative journalism", Divan denied that there was any vilification of the Muslim community and asserted that the show was about a journalist unearthing details about foreign funding from sources that are not necessarily friendly with India.When Divan said that it was a "freedom of speech issue", Justice Chandrachud disagreed."This is not a freedom of speech issue. When you say students of Jamia are part of a conspiracy to infiltrate civil services, that is not permissible. You cannot target one community and brand them a particular manner. This is an insidious attempt to malign a community", the judge said."As a Supreme Court of the nation, we cannot allow you to say that Muslims are infiltrating civil services. You cannot say that the journalist has absolute freedom doing this", the judge said.J Chandrachud : When you say students of Jamia are part of a conspiracy to infiltrate civil services, that is not permissible. You cannot target one community and brand them a particular manner.J Joseph quips in : That too by making factually incorrect statements.— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 15, 2020 J Chandrachud : As a Supreme Court of the nation we cannot allow you to say that Muslims are infiltrating civil services. You cannot say that the journalist has absolute freedom doing this.#SudarshanNews#SureshChavhanke— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 15, 2020 Advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for intervenors, invited the attention of the bench to certain screenshots of the objectionable portions of the show. He submitted that four episodes of the show were telecasted from September 11 to 14 and that the remaining episodes are to be telecasted from September 15 to 20.Advocate Sharukh Alam, appearing for another intervenor, submitted that the show had gone beyond the realm of speech, as it was soliciting active interaction from its viewers, who were airing bigoted views against the minority community.Advocate Gautam Bhatia, appearing for a group of retired civil servants, submitted that the considerations against prior restraint are different while dealing with hate speech."Hate speech undermines the idea of free marketplace of ideas. The targeted community is deprived of the opportunity to respond or defend. The consideration on prior restraint is different in a case of hate speech", Bhatia submitted.The Solicitor General submitted that the court should also consider the wider issues of the case, without confining it to only the electronic media.When Justice Chandrachud asked the Solicitor General if anyone from the Ministry applied their mind to the four episodes of the show telecast from September 11 to 14, after the Ministry allowed its telecast on September 9, the SG replied that he will have to take instructions on that aspect.Solicitor General says that there are statutory authorities to deal with the violations.Justice Josehp says - 'the damage will be irreversible'.#SudarshanNews#SureshChavhanke— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 15, 2020 During the pre-lunch session, the bench made some strong oral remarks taking objection to the show telecast by Sudarshan TV News about the entry of Muslims into the All India Services after clearing the UPSC exams."This program was so insidious. Citizens from a particular community who go through the same examinations and get interviewed by the same panel. This also casts aspersions on the UPSC examination. How do we deal with these issues? Can this ...

[Breaking] "You Cannot Target One Community And Brand Them In A Particular Manner": SC Restrains Sudarshan TV From Telecasting "UPSC Jihad" Show [Read Order]

Sanya Talwar

"We order and direct, pending further orders of the court, Sudarshan News TV is restrained from telecasting the show in continuation of the shows already telecasted either under the same or a different caption"

Tags