COURTESY HT SEPT 16

Can’t target one community’: SC stops news show
NEW DELHI : A television programme relating to the civil services exams gives an impression that it is being aired with the objective of vilifying the Muslim community and bringing it into disrepute, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday, issuing an injunction barring the channel Sudarshan News from televising the programme for the time being.

A three-judge bench headed by justice DY Chandrachud took strong exception to the contents of the show, Bindas Bol, which spoke of “UPSC jihad”, observing that the claims made by the channel appeared to be “insidious” and also cast aspersions on the credibility of the Union Public Service Commission exams.

“An insidious attempt has been made to insinuate that the community is involved in a conspiracy to infiltrate the civil services… Any attempt to vilify a community must be viewed with disfavour by this court as a custodian of Constitutional values,” said the bench.

The court reconsidered its stance of August 28 when it had declined to impose a pre-broadcast ban on the controversial programme, citing freedom of speech and expression.

The hearing also saw a lengthy discussion on regulating media, particularly the electronic media. The court suggested the appointment of a committee of five distinguished citizens to frame standards for regulation.

In the programme’s trailer, the editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News, Suresh Chavhanke, was seen questioning how there had been a sudden increase in the number of Muslims succeeding in IAS and IPS exams. P12