Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea for separate Sindhi channel on Doordarshan

A Bench headed by CJI Chandrachud said directing Prasar Bharati to start a 24-hour channel would not be the only way to conserve linguistic rights

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition seeking a direction to public broadcaster Prasar Bharati to launch a separate Sindhi language Doordarshan channel.

The petition filed by an NGO, Sindhi Sangat, said the move would be in furtherance of Article 29 of the Constitution which required the state to protect and conserve the linguistic, cultural and religious rights of minority communities.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud however told senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the NGO, that directing Prasar Bharati to start a 24-hour channel would not be the only way to conserve linguistic rights.

“The right which is claimed under Article 29 for preserving the language of the Sindhi population cannot result in an absolute or indefeasible right for the commencement of a separate language channel for a particular language,” the court noted.

Ms. Jaising argued that one of the ways to preserve the Sindhi language was through public broadcasting. She contended that Section 12(2)(d) of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990 placed an obligation on the public broadcaster to provide “adequate coverage” to the diverse cultures and languages.

The NGO had approached the apex court following the dismissal of its petition by the Delhi High Court on May 27. The High Court had found the plea “misplaced” and said Prasar Bharati’s decision against a Sindhi channel was based on intelligible differentia.

Published - October 14, 2024 07:57 pm IST