Showcause notice to channels run by Saradha group

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has issued showcause notice to the channels run by West Bengal-based Saradha group for alleged violations of uplinking and downlinking guidelines.
The ministry has also asked the Home Ministry to specify if its clearance to the channels is still valid after it came to notice that new people had been nominated as directors in the company that runs the channels, a senior official said.
According to officials, the ministry found there were changes in shareholding pattern which suggested that the company that owned the channels had been taken over by the Saradha group.
It was also found that three persons had been nominated as directors in company that ran the channels without informing the I&B ministry which again amounted to violating rules.

Officials said that while the ministry's show cause notice had not been replied by the company, they were now awaiting a reply by the home ministry.
A withdrawal of security clearance for the channels could mean that the permissions granted to them are withdrawn and they are no longer allowed to operate, officials said.

The Saradha group is accused of cheating lakhs of chit fund investors of several crores. The Mamata Banerjee led government had in the past announced that it planned to take over two of the channels to provide relief to the employees.
I&B officials said that they were also carrying out a comprehensive exercise where they were going through documents submitted by all TV broadcasters to check if there were other channels which have violated any of its guidelines.

There are more than 800 channels in the Indian broadcasting space.