Delhi High Court Issues Notice On Plea Against Alleged 'Homophobic' Show Broadcasted By TV9 Marathi Channel

A Single Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh has also issued notice to the channel and has asked its counsel to seek instructions in the matter.

The case finds its genesis in a programme titled 'Aarogyam Dhanasampada – Sexual Problems and Solutions' broadcasted by the Marathi news channel on March 3, 2020. In the said show, the Petitioner alleges, a guest speaker was invited who communicated during the programme that homosexuality is a disease.

As per the plea, the speaker made three false and dangerous claims, calling for homosexual persons to be "cured". It is alleged that the speaker claimed (i) homosexuality is a disease, and it could be observed that teenage boys stand like girls and talk differently, which should not be encouraged; (ii) persons with same-sex attractions ought to be taken to a doctor immediately to be cured; and (iii) he had cured several homosexual persons in the past.

The Petitioner, who identifies himself as a gay man, has alleged that the said programme propagated harmful information with respect to homosexuality in gross violation of Rule 6(1)(d), (i), (j) and (l) of the Programme Code.

He pointed out that there is overwhelming medical opinion both internationally and in India that homosexuality is not a disease and attempts aimed at "curing" a person have serious negative consequences on the physical and mental health of a person.

It is thus alleged that the show violates the fundamental rights of the LGBTQIA+ community to equality, non-discrimination, sexual expression, dignity, autonomy and health, guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution.

It may be noted that the Petitioner had initially corresponded with the news channel itself to telecast a programme consisting of credible medical professionals to clarify the position on sexuality, gender identity, etc.

However, when the said correspondence did not fructify, he filed complaints before the Broadcasting Ministry, which refused to take any action by simply stating that the show was not found to be violating the Programme Code.

In his plea, the Petitioner alleged that the impugned order has been passed mechanically, despite the categorical ruling by the Supreme Court in Navtej Johar & Ors. v. Union of India, which held that homosexuality is not a crime or a disease.

He sought quashing of the impugned order along with directions to the Ministry to issue an advisory under the Programme Code, explicitly prohibiting homophobic and transphobic broadcast content.

He further prayed that a direction be made to the concerned channel to broadcast an apology, along with a disclaimer that homosexuality is not a disease, for a period of 10 minutes each day during prime time for 10 consecutive days.

In its order, the Bench noted that the impugned order passed by the Ministry shows that no reasons have been given in the said order as to why the programme telecast by TV-9 Marathi Channel is not in violation of the Programme Code.

It further noted that the order was passed without affording a hearing to the Petitioner.

At this juncture, the counsel appearing for the Ministry submitted that he shall take instructions on whether the Ministry is willing to reconsider the matter, after affording a hearing to the Petitioner.

Similarly, the channel's counsel submitted that she would seek instructions in respect of the programme consisting of credible medical professionals addressing issues of sexuality, gender expression etc., which was being discussed in the correspondence between the Petitioner and the channel.

The Bench has asked them to complete instructions by April 5, 2021.

Advocates Mihir Samson, Amritananda Chakravarty, Shreya Munoth, Ashwin Pantula, Suhani Arya and Pradip Kumar Singh appeared for Petitioner.

Advocates Suparna Srivastava and Tushar Mathur appeared for Centre.

Advocates Payal Kakra and Daman Popli appeared for TV9 Marathi channel.

Case Title: Indrajeet Ghorpade v. Union of India & Anr.

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