NCW wants television content monitored

Plea to govt to enact law to control indecent programmes

NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said unless a law is enacted, shows like “Big Boss” and “Rakhi Ka Insaaf” cannot be stopped. She said the commission has reviewed the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 and has drafted amendments to broaden the definition of “indecent representation” and expand the scope of the Act to include electronic and digital media.

Regulatory authority

“We appeal to the government to immediately pass the Prohibition of Indecent Representation of Women and Children Act 2008 so that there will be regulatory authority to control shows like the ones which are on air now,” she told reporters here.

She said the proposed bill has a provision to set up a central authority to regulate and prohibit indecent representation of women. Vyas said the proposed bill’s scope will be extended to electronic media, internet and even SMS and MMS clips.

“A new clause ‘publish’ will be introduced to cover audio visual media, computer, satellite related communication or internet communication,” she said.

The NCW chairperson thanked Prasar Bharti for shifting the telecast of “Big Boss” and “Rakhi Ka Insaaf” between 11 pm and 5 am citing “abusive” language, “objectionable” content and divulging of “intimate” details on the shows.

“But unless there is a law, such things cannot be controlled. They went to the court and got the order stayed. So, the immediate need is a law so that these kinds of programme can be controlled,” she said.

Vyas said the commission has also written to NDTV Imagine seeking an explanation from them on the “indecent language” used by actress Rakhi Sawant. “Besides law, there should be self-regulation also.

Every media group, production house and advertisement agencies should create and maintain a self-regulatory mechanism. For example, the dresses worn by women in ‘Big Boss’ are not decent,” she felt.

Lawsuit against ‘Rakhi Ka Insaaf’

TV reality show “Rakhi Ka Insaaf” is in legal trouble once again as a man has lodged a complaint claiming that his wife was wrongly presented as married to another man in one of the episodes, reports PTI from Muzaffarnagar.

Narendra Singh has filed a case in a local court against host Rakhi Sawant, the NDTV Imagine show bosses and Dev Bhardwaj, the man shown as his wife Sunita Singh’s husband.

In his complaint, Narendra has claimed that he had been  married to Sunita since August 2003 and the man shown in the episode is not her husband, according to his lawyer Hari Om Goyal.

Narendra has filed charges of defamation, obscenity and indecent representation of a woman, among others. The case is scheduled for a November 30 hearing.

“Rakhi Ka Insaaf,” which recently shifted its airing time from 10 pm to 11 pm following an I&B ministry directive, is currently embroiled in a case of abetment to suicide.