The Supreme Court (SC) of India has asked the government to file an affidavit on the actions it plans to take for regulating the over-the-top (OTT) platforms. When the SC asked the government how it proposes to regulate the OTT platforms, the centre replied that it is still contemplating on what needs to be done and has not finalised the steps yet. The SC didn’t take the comment light-heartedly and said it ‘cannot accept mere contemplates’ and thus asked the government to file an affidavit on what it is doing related to the matter — more details on the story ahead.
Supreme Court Asks Government to File an Affidavit on What it Plans to Do
According to a report from ANI, the SC bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde has sought an affidavit from the government on the actions it is taking to regulate the OTT platforms. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the government said that the centre is taking the issue very seriously and is planning to do something soon. To this, the SC asked the petitioners to file for a representation with the government and give their suggestions on the matter. For the unaware, the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for the regulation of OTT platforms by an autonomous body was filed by advocates Apurva Arhatia and Shashank Shekhar Jha. The PIL said that there isn’t any proper body or institution in India to monitor and manage the content being offered to the public through OTT platforms. It said that since cinema halls and theatres are unlikely to open in full capacity soon, the OTT platforms give filmmakers and production houses an open platform to roll out their movies/series helping them skim through the process of getting the censor board’s approval for their content. In a separate case, the centre has also told the SC that a need for regulation of the OTT platforms is very important.
