FM Channel Radio 1: Delhi HC asks govt to check recordings

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to check the broadcast recordings of FM channel Radio One between May 10 and May 17, 2016 to ascertain how many times it had aired talk shows with obscene content.

The direction from a bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar came after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting submitted that offensive content was aired on two days in May 2016 and that a warning has been issued to the radio channel in that regard.

The FM radio channel also admitted to have aired shows with offensive content on two days in May last year, but the petitioner contended that it had happened through the month.

The bench then directed the radio channel to verify whether it has recordings of broadcasts between May 10-17, 2016, particularly for the time slot of 8 PM to 10 PM and to file a status report regarding it.

“Don’t go and destroy the recording if you find any,” the court said.

The PIL was filed by lawyer Krish Kalra, alleging that the radio channel aired on May 11 and May 14, 2016 talk shows in which “vulgar and obscene language” was used.

He has sought cancellation of permission agreement (GOPA) between I&B Ministry and Radio One, which operates the channel at 94.3 MHz frequency.

The petitioner has alleged that the FM channel, in its ‘Drive Delhi’ show broadcast between 5 PM and 10 PM, used “obscene and vulgar language” on several occasions.

The petition contends that airing such shows violates an October 2012 advisory by the ministry asking radio channels to ensure no content, messages, advertisement or communication broadcast by them was objectionable.