As the date of the government-ordered blackout inches closer, news channel NDTV has moved Supreme Court, calling the Centre’s order to take it’s Hindi channel NDTV India off air for a day ‘unconstitutional’.
Last Thursday, the Information and Broadcast Ministry issued an order for a one-day blackout for NDTV India, allegedly for airing ‘sensitive’ footage of the Pathankot army base attack that took place on January 2 this year.
NDTV has refuted the centre’s allegations about its Hindi channel revealing ‘strategically sensitive’ information via its coverage of the terrorist attack, claiming other channels had broadcast the same thing.
In a previous statement, the channel had expressed shock at being singled out and had compared the blackout order to the Emergency.
The Editor’s Guild of India has also strongly condemned the move, along with large sections of the media. This is the first time in India that a private channel has been asked to be taken off air by the government for revealing information related to a terror strike.
Feature Image Source: PTI/Twitter