The Delhi high court today (November 9) morning chided television news channels Republic TV and Times Now for exceeding their limits and acting as parallel courts while reporting on Bollywood matters, asking them to tone down and ensure that no defamatory content against Bollywood or any of its members was broadcast. It was hearing the suit filed by 34 top producers and four leading film trade associations of Bollywood against the two news channels for their uncontrolled and horrendous remarks about Bollywood in their coverage of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death on and from 14th June.
The court added that it expected fair reportage and neutrality from the media. It said that people “are very scared of the fourth estate” and asked the news channels to file written statements in response to the suit filed against media trials of Bollywood celebrities and against irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks made for the film industry and those who were part of it.
In what is being seen as a direct insult of the channels, Justice Rajiv Shakdher remarked, “We used to find Doordarshan very stale. I wish Doordarshan comes back. They had some lovely broadcasters then.” The court added that the media channels were apparently not followig the Programme Code. “If you do not follow self-regulation, then what is to be done in a matter like this? You are prejudging issues.” The judges called the coverage of the news channels “less news and more opinion” and said, it was indeed disheartening and demoralising.
The court also drew the attention of the two news channels to “what happened when the media chased someone like (Princess) Diana. You cannot go on like this. Courts are the last one to interfere… but what is happening here… is that you do not want to follow the code?” The court also came down heavily on the television debates for which the two channels are well-known. It said, there was “no civility in (their) discourse”. “Now I am hearing, participants in debates are using cuss words because they get so excited,” it said, adding, “If you keep egging them on, that is what happens.”
The petitioners have prayed for the courts to intervene to ensure that the channels and their journalists abide by provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994. They have also demanded that the channels withdraw, recall and take down all alleged defamatory content published by them against Bollywood. The petitioners have also sought direction from the court to restrain the two channels from conducting media trials of Bollywood personalities and interfering with their right to privacy. The petitioners have mentioned that the suit was filed in the wake of the two channels using “highly derogatory words and expressions” for the Hindi film industry. The suit states that the two channels were conducting and publishing parallel private investigations and effectively acting as courts to condemn persons associated with Bollywood as guilty. It contends, “Bollywood is unique and stands on a different footing from any other industry in as much as it is an industry that is dependent almost solely on goodwill, appreciation and acceptance of its audience. The livelihood of persons associated with Bollywood is being severly impacted by the smear campaign being run by the defendants.”
The hearing was adjourned to December 14.
The four trade associations and 34 producers which/who have jointly filed the suit are: The Film & Television Producers Guild Of India, Cine & TV Artistes’ Association, Indian Film And TV Producers Council, Screenwriters Association, Aamir Khan Productions, Ad-Labs Films, Ajay Devgn Ffilms, Andolan Films, Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network, Arbaaz Khan Productions, Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, BSK Network And Entertainment, Cape Of Good Films, Clean Slate Filmz, Dharma Productions, Emmay Entertainment & Motion Pictures, Excel Entertainment, Film Kraft Productions, Hope Production, Kabir Khan Films, Luv Films, MacGuffin Pictures, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, One India Stories, R.S. Entertainment, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures, Red Chillies Entertainment, Reel Life Productions, Reliance Big Entertainment, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Roy Kapur Films, Salman Khan Films, Sikhya Entertainment, Sohail Khan Productions, Tiger Baby Digital, Vinod Chopra Films, Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures and Yash Raj Films.