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The Delhi High Court has issued notice in a writ petition filed by activist Shehla Rashid, seeking an apology from Zee News and its former anchor Sudhir Chaudhary in relation to a November 2020 Hindi news programme which aired the interview of her biological father, who made several allegations against her and her family.
The petitioner has challenged an order passed by News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) on March 31 and sought a modification since the authority did not direct the broadcaster to run an apology on their platform. The authority, in the order, had examined whether the “programme lacked objectivity, impartiality, neutrality and whether it violated the complainant’s privacy”.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted before the Court, “In today’s situation, particularly with these kinds of allegations, the whole idea is that there should be a sense of responsibility of the media houses, of the people who make these allegations… Subsequently the impugned order is passed after adjudication. In determining whether there is a sense of responsibility, a sense of integrity in what they are saying, one way is just taking it down; one is apologising.”
The counsel for News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) stated that the authority has received a “confirmation from the broadcaster that as far as the impugned programme is concerned of 30-11-2020, they have removed it from all the links”.
The court asked the counsel for the petitioner if the confirmation received by the NBDSA from the broadcaster is satisfactory, to which he replied, “There are repercussions. It is a politically charged situation. There are repercussions which happen… one is faced with all kinds of things… the apology is an important part of the responsibility for what is stated… And in other cases they (apologies) are ordered.”
The court asked the counsel for the broadcaster if they are willing to run a line (apologising) on their platform, to which they replied in the negative. The court then issued notice on the petition, and asked the respondents to file a reply to the petition.
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