The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the efficacy of self-regulatory actions taken by TV news channels and urged the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA) to strengthen the existing mechanism.
The Supreme Court said that it will soon issue new guidelines for stronger self-regulation of TV channels and stressed the need to reconsider the penalty structure. The top court said that imposing a fine of only one lakh for 15 years is ineffective.
A bench of Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Manoj Mishra said that unless the rules are made stricter, TV channels will not follow it. The bench made the remarks while hearing an appeal by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) against the Bombay High Court judgment on lack of self-regulation by TV channels.
Describing the self-regulation of TV channels as insufficient, the Bombay High Court had directed to make it stricter. Against this, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) filed a petition in the Supreme Court. During the hearing on this petition, the Supreme Court made strict remarks. the Chief Justice said that ‘You are saying that TV channels have self-regulation but I do not know how many people in this court will agree with you. How much fine do you guys charge? one lakh! How much does a channel earn in a day? Unless you make the rules strict, no TV channel will be bound to follow them.
The bench asked senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for NBA, to seek advice from Justice AK Sikri and Justice RV Raveendran on strengthening self-regulation of TV channels and place it before the court later. The bench said that the Central Government will also be asked to answer on this. The court has also sought advice regarding the fine amount of one lakh.