NBDA Not Formally Registered With Central Govt Under Cable TV Rules, NBF Has Official Recognition : I&B Ministry Tells Supreme Court

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through its recent affidavit has told the Supreme Court that the NBDA (News Broadcasters & Digital Association) is trying to create monopolistic rights in the complaint redressal mechanism for news broadcasters, free from statutory accountability and action.

The affidavit has been filed by the Centre in a plea filed by the NBDA (formerly News Broadcasters Association) challenging the critical observations made by the Bombay High Court against the self-regulatory mechanism for media. The High Court's observations came in a judgment passed in January 2021 while deciding a batch of PILs questioning the media trial in the actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

In August, the bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra while hearing the matter had expressed its concerns about the ineffectiveness of the self-regulatory mechanism set up by the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA), namely, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBSA).

While acknowledging the NBDA's stance against pre-censorship or post-censorship on news channels through statutory mechanism, the bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud stressed upon the necessity for an effective self-regulatory mechanism. CJI Chandrachud questioned the adequacy of the existing penalties imposed by the NBDA, citing a need for proportional fines that reflect the profits earned from news channels by airing disputed news. The bench noted that the penalty for violations is Rupees 1 lakh, a figure which was set in 2008.

The Central Government in its affidavit has stated that the NBDA is a voluntary organisation and does not have all broadcasters as its members. The NBDA only has 71 number of members out of 394 news broadcasting channels licensed by the central government. The Centre has also pointed out that the NBDA is not registered with the Central Government under Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021 and has asserted that its members are not obligated to follow the rules relating to the complaints redressal structure.

The Centre has stated that it introduced the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules 2021, for a statutorily backed system for redressing grievances, while placing accountability and responsibility on the broadcasters and their self-regulating bodies.

The Centre has said that though it has recognized the concept of self- regulation in media and given space to the self- regulating bodies to address grievances of citizens concerning violation of Programme/ Advertising Code under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, such a mechanism gives no legal or statutory power to the self-regulating bodies.

The Centre has also stated that the three-tier grievance redressal mechanism introduced by the recent CTN (Amendment) Rules, 2021 provides a statutory framework and allows self-regulating bodies to give appropriate advice to broadcasters for rectifying their actions, if there is violation of the Programme/ Advertising Code. However, the Centre also makes it clear that it is the final authority when it comes to grievances regarding violation of the Codes:

“…the role of the Central Government is in ensuring that grievances of violation of the Codes are attended to and credible action taken against the broadcasters, remain paramount and Central Government is the final authority for taking such action. Thus, by no stretch of imagination can it be said that a self-regulating body partakes the character of a statutory body/authority.”  

The Centre has said in its affidavit that there is ‘minimum interference of government authorities in the arena of journalism’. The Centre says that only in extreme cases having adverse effect on public good, public order, national security etc. does the government step in. “Union of India has always protected journalistic freedom and has encouraged the policy of promoting self-restraint and self- regulation in the field of journalism.” the affidavit states. 

The Centre has said that there is a regulatory framework in place for regulating media which primarily consists of both "statutory regulation" and "self regulation". The statutory regulatory framework is contained in the Cable Television Networks Act and Rules and the Up-linking and Down-linking guidelines for TV channels. The Central Government has said that it imposes self-restraint and has promoted a mechanism of self- regulation by media houses and journalists but this has been misunderstood by many voluntary federations. Federations like the NBDA, have insisted that instead of statutory regulations of the Central Government, the Centre must recognize the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBSA) as the sole authority in news broadcasting, as a self-regulating body and notify the codes and guidelines of NBSA under the Programme Code as statutory codes, the Centre has told the Apex Court.

The Centre has also informed the Supreme Court that the NBDA has challenged CTN amendment Rules 2021 before the Kerala High Court and has informed the I&B Ministry that in view of the order of the High Court it is not obligated to follow the rules relating to the complaints redressal structure.

The Centre states that the action of the NBDA is a clear breach of the High Court order, since the High Court never said that Broadcasters need not comply with CTN Rules.

“the Hon'ble High court only mentioned that no coercive action' would be taken against the broadcasters, which clearly no way tantamounts to grant of any stay or relieving the broadcaster of its obligations under the CTN Rules. Accordingly, the decision of the NBDA to not entertain any complaints of citizens for violation of the Programme Code under the CTN Rules is a blatant violation of law", the Centre has said in its affidavit.

NBF officially recognized

The Centre has also pointed out that self-regulatory body of the News Broadcasters Federation (NBF), another voluntary organisation, Professional News Broadcasters Standards Authority (PNBSA), has been officially recognised by the I&B Ministry.

The Centre has informed the Top Court that the NBF is the only voluntary association and a self-regulatory body formally registered and officially recognized as Level-II Self-Regulatory for TV News Channels under the CTN Rules 2021 and for Digital News Platforms under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. PNBSA is the only self-regulatory body which has been recognized by the CTN Rules 2021, having the statutory authority to entertain and adjudicate viewers grievances, the Centre has said.

“The only difference between NBDA and NBF is that whereas NBF is formally registered with the Central Government under the CTN (Amendment) Rules, 2021 and has been following the statutory regime of the Central Government, NBDA has resisted its registration under the CTN (Amendment) Rules, 2021 and has been operating beyond the gamut of legal framework” the Centre states in its affidavit.

Notably, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had recently remarked that the Court does not want to get caught up in the rivalry between news media organisations and that it was only concerned with giving the self-regulatory mechanism for TV channels "some teeth".

"We cannot sort out your ideological differences (NBDA and NBFI) here. We do not want this plea to get lost in the cacophony of rival organisations", the CJI had observed.

Case Title: News Broadcasters Association v. Union Of India And Ors Diary No. 10801-2021