Freedom of expression is one of the most abused freedoms in recent times, the Supreme Court said Thursday while listening to a case seeking action against television channels for allegedly spreading false news about the Tablighi Jamaat and communalizing the Nizamuddin markaz incident. .
A bank headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, SA Bobde, also strongly opposed the affidavit submitted by the central government in response to the petition and claimed that it had been submitted by a junior official and does not address any cases either. specific misconduct. complaint raised by the petitioner.
“You cannot treat this court this way. The affidavit is filed by a junior officer. He is also extremely evasive and does not respond to incidents of misinformation, ”CJI Bobde told Attorney General Tushar Mehta.
Mehta said he will arrange for a new affidavit to be filed.
The court asked Mehta to ensure that the secretary of the department in question files the new affidavit.
“The clerk must tell us what he thinks of the specific incidents (cited by the petitioner) and not make nonsensical claims like what has been done now,” Bobde said and published the case for a further hearing after two weeks.
Lead attorney Dushyant Dave, who represented the petitioner, stated that the government has claimed that the problem involves gagging freedom of expression.
“Freedom of speech is one of the most abused freedoms in recent times,” CJI Bobde commented.
The court was hearing petitions from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Peace Party, the DJ Halli Federation of Masjid Madaaris and the Wakf Institute and one Abdul Kuddus Laskar alleging that the media was reporting the incident in a biased way and demonizing the Muslim community.
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The Nizamuddin area of Delhi was sealed off on March 30 after it came to light that several people, who had attended a religious event held in March in Nizamuddin by a Muslim sect called Tablighi Jamaat, were infected with coronavirus.
At least 16,500 people had visited the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin between March 13 and 24.
The petitioners have alleged that the reports of the incident by certain sectors of the media violated journalistic norms and the provisions of the Law for the Regulation of Cable Television Networks and the programming code of said Law that prohibits broadcasting. on television of programs containing attacks on a religion or communities or promoting communalism.
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The petition also noted that several of this fake news has been debunked by fact-checking organizations such as Altnews.
During Thursday’s hearing, the court also asked the center to clarify what provision the government would specifically use to impose a ban on the transmission of television channels.
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