The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the telecast of Sudarshan TV’s ‘Bindas Bol’ programme till further notice and made some strong oral remarks against the show.
The programme, hosted by channel’s chief editor Suresh Chavhanke, is based on an alleged conspiracy to infiltrate Muslims in government service.
A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, K.M. Joseph and Indu Malhotra, while expressing their displeasure over the show, said prima facie it appears that the programme vilifies the Muslim community.
“Look at this programme, how rabid is this programme that one community is entering into civil services,” observed the bench.
“This programme is so insidious. See how insinuating is the subject of this programme that Muslims have infiltrated the services and this puts the examinations of UPSC under scanner without any factual basis,” the court said.
The top court said such “insidious charges” also put a question mark on the UPSC exams. “Aspersions have been cast on UPSC. Such allegations without any factual basis, how can this be allowed? Can such programs be allowed in a free society,” it said.
Earlier, senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Sudarshan TV, told the bench that the channel considered it as an investigative story on national security.
However, the court refuted his claim and said “your client is doing a disservice to the nation”.
“Your client is not accepting India is a melting point of diverse culture. Your client needs to exercise his freedom with caution,” the apex court tells Divan.
The top court has issued notice to the Centre, the Press Council of India, News Broadcasters Association and Sudarshan News on a plea filed by advocate Firoz Iqbal Khan who has raised grievance pertaining to the programme.
Last week, the Delhi High Court had refused to stay the telecast of the programme, but referred the matter to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The ministry, however, did not pass a reasoned order.
With inputs from PTI
