New Delhi, Sep 30: An Information and Broadcasting Ministry's warning to television channel Star Plus against showing two “vulgar and indecent” episodes of ‘Sach Ka Samna' in July 2009 was upheld today by the Delhi High Court.
“The warning administered to Star Plus Channel by the I&B Ministry by the impugned order was justified as a valid exercise of statutory power by the regulatory authority,” said Justice S Muralidhar.
Justice Murlidhar's order upheld the Centre's July 22 notice seeking an explanation from the TV channel for showing the episodes and its subsequent warning in November 2009 against showing similar shows in future.
The court gave its order dismissing Star India Private Ltd (SIPL) plea against the I&B Ministry's July 2009 notice and the November 2009 warning to adhere to the programme code.
Accepting the ministry's contention that the episodes were adult in nature and should not have been telecast in the prime time slot, the court said the telecast of the two episodes on July 17, 2009 and July 21, 2009 violated Cable Television Networks Rules.
The ministry had issued a show-cause notice to SIPL on November 27, 2009, alleging the episodes were “vulgar, indecent and against good taste and decency” and had sought its explanation for doing so.
The ministry had later also warned the channel against not adhering to the programme code of the Telecast Act. PTI
