The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court said Friday that the electronic media needed a statutory body which people could approach if they had grievances.
Hearing a petition by social activist Nutan Thakur, Justices Devi Prasad Singh and Ashok Pal Singh said for any misconduct by the print media, a statutory forum existed in the form of the Press Council of India.
No such mechanism existed for the electronic media, the judges said.
"This seems not proper in a country run by rule of law and governed by democratic polity, and hence the union needs to provide a statutory forum for the electronic media," the judged observed.
The electronic media affected people's minds, the judge said.
They said the electronic media should also be supervised by a statutory and autonomous forum like the Press Council, and the union of India should provide for a forum to address grievances from viewers.
The court directed the central government to file an affidavit bringing on record its stand on the provision of a statutory forum for the electronic media.
