Why bar news on FM radio, SC asks government

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the union government on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the prohibition on news broadcasts on private FM radio channels. The government has been directed to respond within four weeks.

''How can you (the government) bar FM radio channels from broadcasting news, as community radio channels are easily accessible?'' a bench comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice R Gogoi wondered.

The civil society group was represented by activist lawyer and Aam Admi Party founder-member Prashant Bhushan.

Agreeing to hear the PIL by NGO Common Cause, the bench wondered why the government had problems in allowing news on private radio channels when it was allowed on TV. ''You have rightly mentioned that radio is accessible to everybody. There is no problem in case of TV channels,'' the judges observed.

The petitioners have asked the court to ''quash the impugned provisions of the Policy Guidelines and of the Grant of Permission Agreements framed by the government'' that prohibit private FM and community radio stations from broadcasting their own news and current affairs programmes as is done by television channels or the print media.

The petitioners' argument is that the policies and guidelines on private radio and community radio that bar them from broadcasting news and current affairs violate the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution. ''It is submitted that the right to freedom of speech and expression also includes the right to information, which encompasses diverse interpretations of news and current affairs,'' the petition said.

They also said the policy guidelines are ''arbitrary and discriminatory'' as no such restrictions are placed on television channels and print media products. ''India is perhaps the only democratic country in the world where the dissemination of news and current affairs programmes on the radio remains a monopoly of the government-owned broadcaster. No other democratic country has similar curbs. None of the USA's 14,000-plus radio stations, the 2,000-odd stations in Spain or the 1,000-plus stations each in Italy, France, Greece and Australia are barred from airing news and cultural affairs,'' the petition said.

Bhushan said it was strange that news was allowed on television but not on radio. ''While television channels earn hundreds of crores, radio makes very little money. If the issue is of regulation, then both television and radio can be regulated. In case of objectionable content being broadcast, action can be taken against radio broadcasters (too),'' he said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and an expert committee of the government have both already recommended that radio channels be allowed to broadcast such content. ''Prohibitory regulations of such nature are not logical,'' Bhushan said.

For community radio, the petitioners argue that they should not be used only to broadcast government advertisements and schemes. It is important for these radio stations to engage with local governments and promote transparency and accountability, they said.