MUMBAI: The central government on Saturday told the Supreme Court that NDTV India has not apologised but only sent a note over the alleged violation of telecast norms during the Pathankot attack, which is not acceptable. New Delhi Television Ltd earlier told apex court that it will not tender an apology for the coverage on 2 January 2016.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and A K Sikri that the note from the TV channel does not seek apology in “explicit” terms, and hence cannot be accepted, the PTI reported. Advocate Harish Salve, appearing on behalf of NDTV, said then the channel would prefer hearing of its petition.
The government put the ban in abeyance after the NDTV group moved the Supreme Court against the one-day ban imposed for 9 November, 2016. On 3 November, 2016, the ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) asked NDTV India to go off-air for a day for revealing sensitive details on the Pathankot attack.
Kumar meantime agreed to the hearing of the petition filed by the channel against the MIB order. The court posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.
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