On 17th September, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud heard a plea against the controversial program UPSC Jihad by Sudarshan TV. Though Supreme Court had refused to impose a pre-broadcast ban, in the orders on Tuesday, the court asked Sudarshan TV not to broadcast any further episodes.
Hearing begins.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) September 17, 2020
Senior Adv Shyam Divan for the channel starts: We have filed our affidavit.
Senior Adv Anoop Chaudhari: We recieved their reply at 12 pm. So many irrelevant things!@SureshChavhanke @SudarshanNewsTV #binsaasbol #UPSC_Jihad #freespeech #hatespeech pic.twitter.com/IUO3Vl928i
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan appearing for Sudarshan TV, submitted their affidavit in the court, which was challenged by Senior Advocate Anoop Chaudhari, saying it had many irrelevant details. Divan claimed in the court that it was very difficult to prepare a reply in a short span. He requested the court to adjourn proceedings till Friday or Monday.
The episodes are available on YouTube
Advocate Shadan Farasat informed the court that all the episodes are available on YouTube. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asked him to send a pen drive with the show’s episodes to the court master.
The hearing will continue on Friday
Justice Chandrachud: We will start at 12 and finish it at 1.30 pm tomorrow
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) September 17, 2020
Counsel for Press Council of India: Please allow me to make submissions after Mr Divan
Justice Chandrachud said that they would ask CJI to constitute a Bench tomorrow, and the hearing will start at 12 PM. After learning about tomorrow’s hearing, Advocate Chaudhari said that they could not file a reply to the 92-page affidavit submitted by Sudarshan TV by tomorrow. Still, the court maintained that the next hearing would take place tomorrow. Senior Adv Divan assured the court that the links or videos would be submitted to the court master today.
On Tuesday, the court asked Sudarshan TV not to broadcast remaining episodes of the show UPSC Jihad.