In addition to a government control of BARC, the petition requests stringent execution and compliance with the 2016 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act.
The petition calling for a government takeover of the organisation in charge of statistics on television audience measurement was answered by the Central government and the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) on Wednesday.
The Union Ministries of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, as well as the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, were requested to respond by a division bench led by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad (TRAI).
The Court set a new hearing date of April 28, 2023 and gave all respondents six weeks to submit their reply.
The Veterans Forum for Transparency in Public Life trust, represented by attorneys Rabin Majumder, Akansha Srivastava, and Joydeep Mukherjee, filed a PIL with the court.
The complaint calls for the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 2016, to be strictly implemented and complied with in addition to the government taking control of BARC.
The Act calls for the creation of a national organisation to create standards for a range of procedures and products in the fields of education, health, and advertising, as well as for television audience measurement.
According to the PIL, the fact that these duties are now being performed by so many different organisations has caused “chaos, convulsion, and corruption,” which has an impact on the general public and audience.
A similar petition that had been filed earlier before the High Court was dismissed, and the Central government was given instructions to rule on the petition as a representation.
But it was reported to the Court that neither the government nor any proactive steps had been taken.
Case Title: Veterans Forum For Transparency in Public Life v. Union of India and Ors
Written By: Lakshman Singh, BBA LLB (Hons.), Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Lucknow
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