The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Thursday issued a notice to Colors television channel for showing a district magistrate in a bad light in its tele-serial
Na Aana Iss Des Lado, rated the third most watched TV serial in cable homes in India last week.
On Monday, the
ministry had issued a notice to Colors for showing semi-nudity in its reality show
Big Boss 3, the fourth since the channel started broadcast in June 2008.
“In the serial (Lado) the district magistrate has not only been shown as corrupt and a womaniser, but his lust for women defies any logic. In fact, in one of the episodes, women are paraded before him on his request. The magistrate, who is apparently shown on an official visit to investigate a case of female foeticide has also been shown to indulge in blackmail. The entire characterization appears to be a grotesque caricature of a district administrator,” the ministry said in the notice.
Agreeing that portrayal of a public authority in a negative role was well within the rights of a creative medium, the ministry, however, said that deliberately portraying the character of the district magistrate in a derogatory way appeared to demean the public institution and bring unnecessarily disrepute.
The ministry’s inter-ministerial group, which issued the notice, believes the portrayal is against the programme code, which the channel is obliged to follow under the permission granted to run the channel.
The ministry has given 15 days to the channel to reply to the notice, saying that otherwise action would be taken, including suspension of the channel or a ban.
The Colors spokesperson, however, said the chanel would reply to the notice appropriately and the portrayal of characters in the serial was as per requirement of the script.