HC bans adult films on cable TV

TNN / Dec 22, 2005, 12:50 IST

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Puts Onus On Operators, Not Channels, To Screen Only 'U' Movies.

MUMBAI: If you had hoped to watch blockbusters like the latest Harry Potter film, King Kong, Salaam Namaste or Garam Masala on the small screen, banish the thought.
In a landmark order, the Bombay high court has banned the screening of films on cable television that do not have a 'U' (unrestricted) certificate. In effect, it means that all films that have a U/A or an Adult certificate from the censor board are off television screens.
While private TV channels that broadcast the movies have escaped responsibility, your neighbourhood cablewallah will have to play censor and ensure that no adult movie or a U/A movie beamed by channels like Star Movies or HBO or Sony TV reaches your TV screens.
A division bench comprising Justices R M Lodha and D G Karnik also directed the police officers concerned to seize the equipment of cable operators and cable service providers who violate the ban.

..."The order would affect the movie industry but not television channels like ours," said Sameer Nair, COO, Star Network. "For the last two to three years, we have been screening only movies with 'U' or 'U/A' certificates. We are not in the game of screening adult movies. With this order we will ask our producers to get fresh 'U' certificates before the movies are screened on TV."
The court's orders came on a public interest litigation filed by St Xavier's lecturer Pratibha Naithani, whose petition objected to the adult content on television channels.

"It's unfair on poor cable operators, while the foreign broadcasters with deep pockets have escaped," said Roop Sharma, president, All India Cable Operators Association. "We are just distributors who receive signals and transmit them to homes. We do not produce the content, how can we be held responsible?" Sharma added that they would challenge the order.
Wednesday's order goes a step further than the high court's order last year directing television channels to screen only those movies that have a certificate from the Censor Board.
...COOKIE CRUMBLES
l Aug '04: A lecturer at St Xavier's files PIL against adult content on TV
l Sept '04: HC directs channels to screen only films with a certificate from censor board
l Nov '05: Union government tells court it has enacted guidelines to take action against broadcasters who violate downlinking rules
l Dec 21: HC bans adult content on cable TV
The Bombay HC's complete ban on screening of films on cable television that do not have a 'U' (unrestricted) certificate came about after the court upheld Section 6 of the Cable Television Network (Regulation) rules that prohibits the transmission of films "not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition".
The programme code contained in the cable TV rules does not allow the screening of adult films at any time. But the I&B ministry had also advised the TV channels to ensure that their films\music videos were certified by the censor board for unrestricted public viewing.
Section 11 of this act empowers the commissioner of police, district magistrate or the subdivisional magistrate to seize transmission equipment of service providers who violate the rules. The judges have asked the police to implement the provisions strictly.
...
The order also overrides the 11 pm watershed time that was followed by the television channels in the country with adult movies being screened only after 11 pm. Iqbal Chagla, who appeared for the private TV channels, contended that adult viewers had a right to watch mature films. "Otherwise the only films that can be screened are children's films," he said.
"Most TV channels are paid channels and encrypted. It should be left to the parents to decide what their children can or cannot watch," he added.
This contention was supported by additional solicitor general B A Desai. "A harmonious reading of the Cable Rules allow for mature content to be screened at times when children are not watching TV," said Desai. The judges, however, thought otherwise. "The rules are clear. Adult and U/A movies are banned at all times," Justice Lodha remarked.
Naithani's counsel Mukesh Vashi claimed that the ban would be applicable all over India. However, additional solicitor general B A Desai insisted that the HC ban was applicable only in Maharashtra. A small window of opportunity has however been left open.
A panel has been appointed by the Centre to study the rules governing cable TV in India. The HC has allowed the Centre to apply to the court for modification of orders after the panel submits its report.

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