In a petition, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind accused the central government that it did not do much to stop fake news spread to target minorities in the onset of corona virus in the country. In response, the Center filed an affidavit stating that most of the major national newspapers had published 'largely factual reports' and only a small section of the media had done so.
New Delhi: The central government told the Supreme Court on Monday that the mainstream media in the Nizamuddin's Tabligi Jamaat case had balanced and factual reporting with great responsibility and during this time only a small section of the media targeted the minority community. .
However, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court expressed unhappiness over the Centre's affidavit and said that the Center should consider creating a regulatory system to deal with such material on television.
The apex court directed the Center to consider and make aware of such a regulatory system. The court said that the government should also explain what steps were taken in this case under the Cable Television Network Act.
A bench of Chief Justice (CJI) SA Bobde, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice V. Ramasubramanian told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, "At first you did not file a proper affidavit which deals with two important questions." This cannot be done. '
The bench said, 'Mr. Mehta, we are not satisfied with your answer. We wanted to know what action you took under the Cable TV Network Act. 'The apex court said that the Center has not said anything in its affidavit about the implementation of the cable TV network law and the legal system related to it.
The bench said, "We want to know what kind of arrangement is there to deal with this type of content on TV." If there is no regulatory system, then you make such a system. The work of the regulator cannot be left to an organization like NBSA (News Broadcasters Standard Authority). '
The bench was hearing the petitions of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and others. There have been allegations in these petitions that a section of the media was spreading communal hatred about the tabligi Jamaat Markaz.
The court also directed the Center to file a new affidavit related to the system of regulation of electronic media under the Cable TV Network Act. Mehta told the bench that many actions have been taken under this law.
To this, the bench said, 'You have to tell how you had acted in the case of some incidents which happened earlier under the cable TV law and questioned Mehta why the Center has not yet formed any body to control these things. did not do.'
The bench said that it wanted to know clearly from the Center how the cable TV law can control the content being used in the cable TV network and what steps can be taken to deal with such complaints. But the affidavit on these aspects is silent.After expressing displeasure over the affidavit of the Center, the apex court directed it to file a new affidavit and listed the matter for hearing after three weeks.
In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has said that most of the country's major national newspapers published 'largely factual reports' on the issue.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in the affidavit, 'Major leading national newspapers of the country including the print editions of Times of India, Hindustan Times and Indian Express have done extensive factual reporting in this context. At the same time, online news portals like Print and Wire also made objective reporting in the Tabligi Jamaat case. Overall, issues related to health, law and order and handling of the epidemic situation were discussed by the central government and various state governments.
The affidavit stated that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has ordered social media to block fake and misleading material about the Corona virus.Let us tell that several meetings were held in Markaz, located in Nizamuddin west of Delhi from 13 March to 15 March, which was attended by Muslim preachers from many countries including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Dubai, Uzbekistan and Malaysia.
Thousands of Indians from different parts of the country also participated in it, many of which were found to be corona infected. In this regard, the Muslim community was accused of spreading corona.While hearing the case on October 8, the court remarked that in recent times the right to freedom of speech and expression has been 'most misused'. Along with this comment, the court had lashed out at the central government, citing the media's affidavit filed in the Tabligi Jamaat case earlier this year as 'refrain from replying' and 'shameless'.The apex court was angry that instead of the Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Additional Secretary had filed an affidavit saying 'unnecessary' and 'absurd' things on the issue of tablighi Jamaat.
The Center had told the apex court in August that this attempt to get an order for a complete ban on media reporting by the Muslim institution on the issue of Markaz Nizamuddin, the right of citizens to obtain information and the right of journalists to make the society aware Will finish it in a way.The government had said that without clear information about the publication or broadcast of any objectionable news by any channel or agency, the authority to pass any unilateral condemnation order under the Constitution and the laws applicable thereto under cable television network rules Do not give.
The bench said that it wanted to know clearly from the Center how the cable TV law can control the content being used in the cable TV network and what steps can be taken to deal with such complaints. But the affidavit on these aspects is silent.
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