Strongly disapprove of Zee News broadcast on Shehla Rashid: NBDSA to Delhi HC
The NBDSA had held that the show, while allowing Rashid’s father to vent and air his allegations against his daughter, the channel presented only “one side of the story”.
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The authority in the March 2022 order ruled in Shehla Rashid’s favour on all counts, however, it did not direct Zee News to run an apology, she has claimed. (Express file photo by Shuaib Masoodi) In a plea moved 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, the News Broadcasters and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) told the Delhi High Court Thursday that it has expressed strong disapproval of the said broadcast and has asked the channel to remove the links from all platforms.
Rashid in her plea sought an “unequivocal and unambiguous” apology from Zee News which aired a programme on November 30, 2020, featuring an interview of her biological father, who made several allegations against her and her family. Rashid challenged a March 31, 2022, order of the NBDSA seeking a modification since the authority did not direct the broadcaster to run an apology on their platform.
The authority, in the order, had held that the show, while allowing Rashid’s father to vent and air his allegations against his daughter, the channel presented only “one side of the story”. It further ruled that by failing to telecast Rashid’s version prior to telecasting the impugned programme, the broadcaster had violated principles of objectivity, impartiality and neutrality enshrined in the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards.
A single judge bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav was hearing the plea wherein advocate Nisha Bhambhani appearing for NBDSA said that the authority had passed the order on a complaint received by Rashid against the impugned broadcast.
Bhambhani argued that the authority in its order had “expressed strong disapproval and objected to the broadcast”, directing the broadcaster to exercise caution while airing such programmes and not repeat the violations in future.
She submitted that Zee News had informed the authority that it had removed all the links to the programme from its website. Granting time to Rashid to file her response to replies filed by all respondent parties, the HC listed the matter for hearing on July 19.
The authority in the March 2022 order ruled in Rashid’s favour on all counts, however, it did not direct Zee News to run an apology, Rashid has claimed.
The News Broadcaster and Digital Association in its affidavit had said that it formulated the Code of Ethics containing certain Principles of Self-Regulation to be followed by its members while telecasting news and current affairs in November 2007.
The association said to ensure that the code of ethics are effectively enforced to give remedy to aggrieved parties, it also framed the News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Regulations which provides for setting-up a completely independent self-regulatory adjudicatory body – the NBDSA.
The association said it has no role to play in the decisions passed by NBDSA in “relation to its members”. NBDA stated on affidavit that it does not have any involvement in the day-to-day operations of its members (which includes Zee News) and “does not monitor nor pre-clear or pre-censor programming or content”. The association claimed that in this view, the association is not in a “position to ensure compliance of any orders or decisions” passed by the NBDSA.
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