Sudarshan News Row: Supreme Court Stops Channel From Airing ‘UPSC Jihad’ Show, Says ‘Programme Tries To Vilify Muslims’
The Supreme Court on September 15 restrained Hindi channel ‘Sudarshan News’ from telecasting a controversial programme, which sought to ‘expose’ a ‘conspiracy to infiltrate Muslims’ into the Indian civil services. The channel had termed the alleged conspiracy ‘bureaucracy jihad’ & ‘UPSC jihad’. SC said it won’t allow television channels to broadcast programmes that seek to disturb communal harmony. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and K M Joseph observed verbally, brushing aside arguments of Sudarshan News that the restraint order impinges on journalistic freedom. The bench was hearing a petition filed to stop the telecast of the controversial programme that is part of a series called ‘Bindas Bol’, hosted by the channels’ Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke. “There will be no telecast of the show in continuation of the shows already telecasted either under the same or a different caption. Any attempt to vilify a community must be viewed with great disfavour by this court, which is a custodian of constitutional rights, “said the Supreme Court. The court will take up the matter again on September 17.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 16, 2020 07:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).