The government on Friday decided to withdraw the month-long ban on Live India TV, imposed after it telecast the fake sting on Delhi school teacher Uma Khurana, following an assurance from the channel that it would abide by the regulations and that it was committed to “effectively” using journalism in the best interests of the nation and society.

The ban was imposed on September 20, after the so-called sting was telecast on August 30, and it was scheduled to end on October 20.

Official sources said the ban had been imposed “as the said sting operation was defamatory, deliberate, false and contained suggestive innuendos and half truths; incited violence and contained content against maintenance of law and order; it criticised, maligned and slandered an individual in person and it denigrated children”.

However, Broadcast Initiatives Ltd, the distributor and uplinking applicant for Janmat TV Channel, the name of Live India on official records, said in its appeal on September 21 and October 4 that there was no “deliberate attempt” by the channel to defame anybody by telecast of the sting operation.

The appeal also claimed that the channel had exercised all “due diligence and care” as per prevailing industry practice, but it subsequently emerged that the reporter had misled them and “unfortunately” the sting was telecast on August 30.

The channel requested the Ministry to reconsider the prohibition of transmission of the channel for one month as it had put a question mark on its commercial viability.