Whiff of 'meddling' in Yakub notices

Yakub Memon

Charu Sudan Kasturi, TT, New Delhi, Aug. 9: The Narendra Modi government broke with standard practice in directly issuing notices to four television channels for their coverage around Yakub Memon's hanging without routing these through an industry standards body, a move at odds with the Prime Minister's promise to reduce government intrusion in regulations.

Industry veterans said governments for the past several years, across political affiliations, had routed most complaints against broadcasters through three industry regulators - two for news channels, and a third for entertainment channels. These industry bodies then act as arbitrator between the complainants - which could be the government - and the respective channel or channels.

The government's decision to instead issue notices directly to channels - ABP News, NDTV 24x7, NDTV India and Aaj Tak - has also sparked deeper concerns within the industry because the channels have not been accused of either factual inaccuracies or defamation.

Instead, the allegations against the channels include the decision by two - ABP News and Aaj Tak - to broadcast interviews with a person claiming to be absconding underworld don Chhota Shakeel, while the two NDTV channels are accused of having demonstrated contempt for the President and the Supreme Court.

The accusations against the NDTV channels are based on a panel discussion they held where Memon's lawyer challenged the court verdict and the President's decision to turn down Memon's mercy petition. ABP News belongs to ABP Pvt Ltd, which also publishes The Telegraph.

"I think this is outrageous, and must be challenged, including legally," N. Ram, chairman of the Hindu group of publications, said over the phone. "Presidents have routinely been questioned and criticised, so it is absurd to suggest this was out of the ordinary. The notices are aimed at sending the message to the industry, particularly to broadcasters."

Bimal Julka, secretary of the information and broadcasting ministry that issued the notices, said he was in a meeting and could not comment when contacted by this newspaper.

Senior broadcast editors said the government, theoretically under the broadcast code, can issue notices to television channels directly. But for the past few years, most complaints about content have been routed by the government through industry regulators.

The Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) is the industry arbiter for complaints against channels other than news channels. The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) serve as the apex television industry bodies for news channels.

Occasionally in the past too, the government has deviated from this norm of forwarding complaints to these industry bodies for action, veterans recalled. In December 2010, the government directly issued a notice to entertainment channel Colors, objecting to a series called Rishton se badhi pratha for allegedly "excessive violence" and "cruelty".

But in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and on several occasions after winning the nation's mandate, Modi has repeated a key slogan, "minimum government, maximum governance".

That Ronald Reagan-like call from Modi suggested he, as Prime Minister, would reduce excessive government regulations, instead allowing the market and industry bodies to serve as arbiters.

Yet in November 2014, the government issued a notice with forwarded complaints directly to entertainment channel Comedy Central, and then, not satisfied with its response, banned the channel for six days.

In the case of the news channels, the government has not even forwarded complaints - merely issuing the notice and effectively acting as the complainant, some editors pointed out.

The proactive intervention is in line with the eagerness with which the government blocked pornography web sites recently, a decision that it partially rolled back after an uproar.

NBSA president Justice R.V. Raveendran said over the phone from Bangalore that he had not seen the notice, while NBA head, television anchor Rajat Sharma, said he was in New York and unable to speak.

But a third body consisting of senior industry professionals, the Broadcast Editors' Association (BEA), has protested the notices to the channels on what it called a "questionable pretext".

"The apex body of editors of news channels in India has expressed its dismay over the latest notices reportedly issued," the BEA said in a statement, "on the questionable pretext that their coverage pertaining to Yakub Memon's death sentence amounted to contempt of the institution of the President as also the judiciary."

The BEA has also protested new cable television rules that require news channels to confine their coverage during terror attacks to "periodic briefings" by an officer "till such operation concludes" while accepting the industry's responsibility not to air counter-terror operations while they are on.