Acting on the directions of the Karnataka High Court, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant has issued a general order prohibiting all television channels from airing programmes that are not in conformity with the “Programme Code” notified under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
The court, on a petition filed by Atma V. Hiremath, had on March 6 directed that any broadcast on the cable television network should be strictly in conformity with the terms of the “Programme Code”. The State government had assured the court that the Commissioner of Police, the “authorised officer” for Bengaluru city under the Act, would take the necessary steps.
The order, passed by Mr. Pant on March 9, under Section 19 of the Cable CTN (Regulation) Act, also states that any violation of the order is liable for prosecution under Section 16 of the Act.
The law prescribes imprisonment up to two years or fine up to ₹1,000 or both for the first offence, and imprisonment up to five years and with fine up to ₹5,000 if any media governed under the CTN Act violates the provisions and the “Programme Code”.
The code, which contains an elaborate list of don’ts for cable TV channels, states that no programme should be aired that contains anything obscene, defamatory, false, and suggests innuendos and half-truths.
The other important prohibitions in the code are on telecasting programmes which denigrate women through the depiction in any manner of the figure of a woman, her form or body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the effect of being indecent, or derogatory to women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or injure the public morality or morals; is not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition; contravenes the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952, etc.
