 Pratibha Naithani Television channels today banded together for the right to screen adult films.
The channels which include Star TV, Sony TV, Zee TV, Udaya TV, AXN and Surya have submitted a new plan to the Bombay High Court that adult films be screened on television between 9 pm and 6 am.
The channels have submitted the proposal following a public interest litigation filed by Pratibha Naithani, a lecturer from St Xaviers college.
Naithani has opposed the screening of films rated A by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on TV.
The channels said that they were in the business of entertainment and adult movies were also a form of entertainment.
The proposals were however opposed by Naithanis counsel M M Vashi who has pitched for a panel that will pass films that can be shown on TV.
Vashi said that there was no agency that was monitoring the content of movies and programmes on TV and suggested that the panel should be constituted comprising a police officer, a channel representative and educationists. The panel would be on the lines of the CBFC.
Earlier, the division bench of Chief Justice Dalveer Bhandari had restrained satellite television channels from broadcasting movies or programmes which did not have a certificate from the CBFC.
Naithani in her petition said that TV channels were screening movies like Kamasutra and Bandit Queen during the day.
The Cable TV Regulations specify that such programmes can be screened only after the watershed time of 11 pm. Serials and shows with explicit contents like Wild On, Sex And The City, explicit trailers and songs were also being aired without any permission from the CBFC, the petition alleged.
The petition also claimed that such programmes had an adverse effect on children. Why Pratibha Naithani filed a PIL
There was no agency monitoring the content of movies and programmes on TV
A panel should be set up comprising a police officer, a channel representative and educationists on the lines of the CBFC.
Adult films were screened during the day
Adult programmes had an adverse effect on children.
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