Self-regulatory body News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has issued a series of strongly worded orders against Zee News, Times Now, Navbharat and India TV for airing programmes that violated neutrality and amplified communal rhetoric. The rulings, delivered last month by a bench chaired by former Supreme Court judge justice (retd) AK Sikri, found the three channels in breach of the code of ethics & broadcasting standards and directed them to remove the impugned content from their platforms.

In the first order, NBDSA admonished Zee News for its October 2024 broadcasts on the so-called ‘Mehendi Jihad’ controversy in Muzaffarnagar. The programmes amplified claims made by Hindu groups that Muslim henna artists were spitting in mehndi before applying it on Hindu women and concealing their identities to marry Hindu women.

The authority noted that the broadcasts reproduced slogans such as ‘dande maro salon ko’ and used headlines like ‘Mehndi Jihad Naya Fasad’ without offering any counter-voices or clarification that these were third-party statements.

“Failure to present the views of all affected parties constituted a violation of the principle of neutrality under the code of ethics,” justice Sikri observed. The authority directed Zee News to take down the videos from its website, YouTube channel and all linked platforms within seven days, warning the broadcaster to exercise caution in future reportage.

In a separate ruling, Times Now Navbharat was found at fault for introducing ‘inappropriate’ elements in its coverage of a Bareilly court judgement sentencing a Muslim man to life imprisonment in October 2024. NBDSA held that while reporting on a court’s findings was legitimate, the channel used tickers such as ‘UP mein love jihad … toolkit Pakistani’ and ‘Jhuthe naam ka afsana, maqsad Musalman banana’ that were not part of the judgement.

Justice Sikri says that the use of these tickers ‘went beyond the narrative in the judgment’ and ordered the broadcaster to remove them from its telecast and digital archives.

In the third case, NBDSA pulled up India TV over its October 2024 prime-time show ‘Coffee Par Kurukshetra’, aired days after communal violence in Bahraich. The complaint filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace argued that the show sensationalised the tragedy, vilified Muslims and portrayed the violence as part of a larger ‘civil war’ allegedly plotted by Muslims against Hindus.

Reviewing the footage, the authority found that the channel had deliberately selected a divisive theme, invited only panellists supporting the narrative, and allowed inflammatory remarks without moderation.

“The broadcaster did not include speakers who could express the other side of the picture, and thus the discussion was not balanced and was one-sided. This is clear violation of principle of neutrality,” the order stated. India TV has been directed to delete the episode from its website, YouTube channel and other links, with compliance to be confirmed in writing within seven days.

The authority reminded all broadcasters of their role as the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’ and stressed that programmes dealing with sensitive subjects must adhere to principles of neutrality, balance, and responsibility. Each of the three orders will be circulated among NBDA members, editors, and legal heads, hosted on NBDSA’s website and included in its annual report.

Indrajeet Ghorpade, who filed the cases against Zee News and Times Now Navbharat, noted that the rulings came almost a year after the programmes aired. He welcomed the directions but pointed out that, despite having powers to impose fines, NBDSA had opted only for content removal and admonitions.

The orders mark a rare instance of three broadcasters being simultaneously reprimanded by NBDSA for coverage that, according to the authority, crossed the line from reportage into amplification of communal and one-sided narratives.