New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on those instigating law and order issues by telecasting fake news and wanted to know from the Centre and the Press Council of India (PCI) to respond in two weeks on the action taken against such news channels.
Telling the Centre not to let people instigate law and order issues, a bench comprising Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde, and Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy told the Centre that "these are the things that later become law and order issues when not checked."
Chief Justice Bobde asked the petitioners to implead the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) – the apex body of visual media - as a respondent.
The court orders came on a batch of petitions by Jamiat Ulama -i-Hind, DJ Halli Federation of Masaajib Madaaris & Waqf Institute, Abdul Kuddus Laskar, and the Peace Party drawing attention to the alleged fake news carried by certain news channels in the wake of Nizamuddin Markaz congregation that had sparked anxiety about the spread of COVID 19 pandemic.