After asking NDTV India to go off-air for a day, the Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has imposed similar penalties on two other channels — News Time Assam and Care World TV.
While the Assam-based news channel has been asked to go off air for a day on November 9 for allegedly violating programming guidelines, Care World TV has been ordered to go off air for a week for allegedly showing obscene content.
Both the orders, dated November 2, have been based on the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee.
According to the order put up on the I&B Ministry’s website, the committee stated that News Time Assam should have exercised caution and care while telecasting a child-related programme.
It was alleged that the channel had disclosed the identity of a minor, who was reported to be brutally tortured while working as a domestic servant and the visuals appeared to compromise the privacy and dignity of the child, exposing him to harm and stigma.
The committee also noted that the channel had been found to be a “repeat violator” of the programming code and the Ministry's order has listed two other cases of these alleged violations.
In one case, it was observed that channel had telecast “extremely disturbing visuals of dead bodies and badly injured people” which were not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition.
In another instance, the channel telecast a programme that appeared to be defamatory towards women.
The Ministry has also asked Care World TV to be taken off air for seven days from November 9-16.
This was done after the channel aired content which was found to be “highly obscene and also found not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition.”