After NDTV India, govt bans News Time Assam for 'violating' guidelines

After NDTV India, the government has ordered that an Assam-based news channel be taken off air for a day, following the recommendations of a high- level panel which felt it had "violated" guidelines on more than one occasion.

An I&B Ministry order dated 2 November, has sought that the channel 'News Time Assam,'be taken off air on 9 November.

One of the allegations against the channel is that it revealed the identity of a minor who had been brutally tortured while working as a domestic help. Observing that the visuals telecast by the channel appeared to compromise the privacy and dignity of the child, while also exposing him to harm and stigma, a showcause notice was issued to the channel in October 2013.

Having listened to the channel's version, the Inter Ministerial Committee which looked into the matter felt that the channel may be taken off air for a day. According to the order, the matter was reconsidered as some other channels had also shown similar content for which they had been issued warnings, but the IMC looked at all the circumstances and again recommended taking it off air for a day.

The same order also lists two other cases of alleged violations by the channel which were considered by the IMC.

One of them related to telecast of gory visuals of bodies for which a recommendation was made to take off the channel for a day.

In another case the channel telecast a programme which appeared defamatory towards women and was in bad taste. The IMC had asked the channel to run an apology scroll but since it did not comply, in this regard, taking it off air for a day was recommended.

--PTI