The Solicitor General told the court that a fresh affidavit will be filed.
New Delhi:
The government is silent on the action taken against TV channels in a case linked to media reporting on the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at a Delhi mosque in violation of virus restrictions, the Supreme Court said today, stressing on the need of a “regulatory mechanism”.
“The government is silent on the action that has been taken and the power it has to regulate the TV channels. If there is no regulatory mechanism, create one or else we will hand it over to outside agency. Regulation cannot be left to the NBA (News Broadcasters Association),” Chief Justice SA Bobde said today, adding that the top court is not satisfied with the centre’s affidavit which was shared in the top court, the second in the last few weeks.
Today’s hearing came nearly a month after the top court berated the government for having a junior officer file what it called an “extremely offensive and brazen” response.
“First, you did not file a proper affidavit and then you filed an affidavit which did not deal with the two important questions. This way it cannot be done Mr Mehta… we are not satisfied with your reply. We asked you tell what action taken. But not a whisper in your affidavit,” the bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, underlining that the government did not deal with the Cable TV Act in its response as it highlighted that “applicability of Cable TV Act in controlling media has a great consequence in this country”.
“Tell us what’s the present legal regime you have… you haven’t told anything,” the top court said. The Solicitor General told the court that a fresh affidavit will be filed.
The centre has defended the media in this case and said in its response to the Supreme Court that there was “no instance of bad reporting”.
The Supreme Court last month pulled up the centre on its affidavit and said it “must tell us instances of bad reporting” and what action had been taken. “Freedom of speech is one of the most abused freedoms in recent times,” Chief Justice SA Bobde had said during the hearing last month.
The top court has been hearing petitions for action against the media for “spreading hatred” over the Tablighi meet at Markaz Nizamuddin earlier this year.
The meeting in March generated a huge controversy as it became a coronavirus super-spreader with many cases across the country linked to those who had attended the gathering.
The government has told the court that it has blocked over 740 links on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, which linked coronavirus with religion.
Last month, the government was asked to file another affidavit by the Secretary of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, on the petition seeking action against some TV channels.
“You cannot treat this court the way you are treating it. Some junior officer has filed the affidavit. Your affidavit is evasive and says petitioner shows no instance of bad reporting. You may not agree but how you can say there is no instance of bad reporting shown,” the Chief Justice had questioned.
