Mitali Palnitkar
Publshed On: February 01, 2022 at 17:04 IST
On January 28, 2022, Delhi Court had taken Cognizance of a Criminal Complaint filed against Sudarshan TV. It was alleged that the Editor-in-Chief of Sudarshan TV, Suresh Chavhanke was spreading Hate against Muslims on his show ‘Bindas Bol’.
Gopal Krishan, the Metropolitan Magistrate at the Rohini Court sought a response from the Delhi Police on the Complaint. He ordered, “Let ATR be called from the IO/SHO as to whether any Cognizable Offence is made out as per the complaint and if yes, whether any action has been taken on it or not for NDOH.”
Zafir Hussain had filed the Complaint and Alleged that Chavhanke spread hatred against the Community by making derogatory remarks about Islam during his show’s telecast in May 2021. It was alleged that Chavhanke stated that people had two choices, either to choose ‘Allah hu Akbar” or to choose peace, technology and prosperity.
The Complaint stated that though the program was regarding the Palestine-Israel Conflict, Chavhanke tried to provoke Muslims by showing an edited video of bombing in the Masjid-an-Nabwi in Saudi Arabia.
Hussain claimed that the videos had been shown on the channel several times with an intention of tarnishing the image of the people belonging to the Muslim community. He stated that he approached the Court seeking action against the channel and the Editor-in-Chief.
He requested the Court to direct the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Sudarshan TV and Suresh Chavhanke under Sections 34, 153A, 153B, 295, 295A, 499, 500 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The matter has been listed for April 2, 2022.