(1 December 2005 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The Union Government is coming up with a legislation to regulate private television channels from telecasting objectionable programmes.

The Centre in an affidavit informed the court that the Union Cabinet had recently set policy guidelines for regulating the telecast of programmes on private channels. The Centre's reply came during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking action against the private television for telecasting programmes that were highly objectionable.

The PIL, filed by social activist Pratibha Naithani, had alleged that a number of TV channels and the local cable operators were transmitting objectionable movies, downlinked from the foreign countries and that the police and the authorities were not taking any action against it.

Adjourning the matter to 14 December, the bench of justice R S Lodha and justice S G Karnik said that the court has no role to play since the Union government has initiated process to bring regulation on the private television channels.