The Delhi High Court has temporarily lifted the 10-day ban on Viacom 18’s Comedy Central channel.
On May 25, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting imposed the ban on the channel for airing two programmes, which it said, “offended good taste and decency,” and “denigrated women.” Viacom 18 challenged the ban in the court over the weekend.
A single-judge Bench upheld the ban, but another Bench of the Chief Justice stayed the order. The channel undertook not to telecast the programmes in the meantime.
It argued that the ‘right to transmission’ was a fundamental right under Article 19, and the ban was “anachronistic” and went against liberal democracy.
The court has asked the government to respond by August 2.
