Justice N Kirubakaran of the bench here directed Tamil Nadu DGP to communicate to all the police stations in the state, seeking details about the number of cases filed under the Cable TV Regulation Act.
The judge sought the details from the state police and reserved the judgement.
The judge earlier directed the Centre to spell out the reasons for not establishing a statutory body to improve standards of broadcasting companies as in the case of newspapers and news agencies through the Press Council Act 1978.
Chennai Police submitted that a FIR was registered following a complaint lodged by a Madurai lawyer. However, the judge expanded the scope of the case to deal with the issue of regulating television content in public interest.
The Additional Solicitor General earlier informed that the broadcast media was already being controlled by the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), a self-regulatory mechanism of the News Broadcasters' Association, chaired by former Chief Justice of India J S Verma.
It was also under the scanner of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council headed by former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court A P Shah. The BCCC was also a self-regulatory body constituted by the Indian Broadcasters' Association and entertained complaints from viewers. (MORE)
