Telecast bans of television news in India: issues and reform

ABSTRACT The freedom of speech and the right to information are crucial fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Various governments have committed to protecting these rights. However, most governments have acted in breach of this commitment by using vague laws for political reasons. Through this article, we look at one such law often used for political reasons to enforce broadcasting bans, namely the Cable Television Network (Regulations) Act, 1995. We argue that the legislative framework for broadcasting under the said Act is constitutionally suspect. The problems that make this framework constitutionally suspect are: procedural and substantive unreasonableness, lack of uniform enforcement and absence of an effective statutory remedy. After identifying the defects in this law, we develop a normative constitutionally compliant framework for the regulation of broadcasters. Among other things, we recommend: clearly defining the contours of grounds for imposing broadcasting bans and separating the “investigating” and “adjudicatory” functions.