Popular television series Crime Patrol, that reconstructs high profile cases, has been asked by the Delhi High Court to withdraw two episodes based on former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay, who are serving a jail sentence after conviction in a recruitment scam.
Advocate Rajiv Nayyar, appearing for Chautala, asked the court to direct the channel to postpone the telecast till the pending petition seeking suspension of their sentence is decided by another bench.
This is the second such instance in two months that the producer was asked to black out content, the first being two episodes based on the Delhi gang rape incident, which followed an intervention by the I& B Ministry.
An alarmed TV industry now sees a bigger and sinister political design behind the move. It is being held that there is a very real threat of the general entertainment channels losing their right to expression. Not to mention the financial setback suffered due to the last - minute cancellations.
Vipul Shah of Optimystix, the producers of Crime Patrol said, "Well, the broadcasters (Sony) have been supportive about compensating me, but I don't know if I'll get to air the episodes at all. All I can say is this is reflective of the sad fate of reality shows."
But Shah is not fighting a lonely battle. Senior producer Manish Goswami of Siddhant Cinevision, registered a strong protest. "I'm shocked at the political interference in our freedom of expression. The TV industry has a body called Indian Broadcasting Federation where we have a clear list of do's and don'ts in accordance with the government's regulations. It seems that the politicians are unable to stop the newspapers and news channels and have decided to turn against us."
When contacted, I & B Minister Manish Tiwari said, "The gang rape was too sensitive a matter to be telecast. Please don't draw parallels between the two stories you are referring to." When asked if both the decisions were infringing on the media's freedom of expression, Tiwari said, "The recent case of Crime Patrol is a Court directive. Who am I to comment on it?"
But the industry is not convinced. TV producer J D Majethia said: "Most TV shows, including Crime Patrol, run promos at least two weeks in advance. If anybody has an objection, a committee should be set up to preview the content in advance."
Majethia points out that television has already self-imposed censorship and for the government to barge into the scene at the last moment, is not welcome. "Steps should be taken to control the collapse of the system, not the portrayal of it. Why are you treating the symptoms of the disease when you can treat its cause?" he asked.
Writer-Director of Crime Patrol, Subbu, believes there is a bias against general entertainment channels that deal with real issues, as opposed to news channels. "On one hand, the entertainment media is told to be responsible and portray reality and then one is stifled. I have created something that is already on the public platform and the court verdict is out. Maybe I should make an episode saying that everything is fine in our country," he shrugs.
ABP News Bureau Chief Jitendra Dixit did not want to comment on the matter, saying it is sub-judice, but pointed out: "I must say that it is a very disturbing trend and we should not take it lying down."
Hosted by Anup Soni, Crime Patrol, since 2003, has reconstructed high-profile cases such as Baby Falak's murder, Neeraj Grover's murder among others.
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