The Curious Case Of NaMo TV

NaMo TV, India's newest television channel, covers Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election rallies, speeches and promotional events. Launched about a week ago, the channel doesn't appear on the Information and Broadcasting ministry's list of 901 satellite TV channels. So how is it on air?

BloombergQuint spoke to former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Jawhar Sircar and Supreme Court Advocate Apar Gupta to find answers to some of these questions.

NaMo TV, according to Sircar, is linking directly with direct-to-home and cable operators, circumventing the existing broadcasting laws and procedures. Wireless airwaves in India are allocated by the Wireless Planning and Coordination wing of the Department of Telecommunications, which are governed by the Wireless Act and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regulations, Sircar said. “If NaMo TV is circumventing these rules, it's exposing a chink in the law which needs to be checked.”

As for ownership of news channels, there are many channels that are owned/partly owned by political parties or people affiliated with them, such as Sun TV, Jaya TV, Republic, Tirangaa, among others.

The difference, according to Apar Gupta, is in the procedure or the lack of it and the observance of a legal standard for everyone with similar operations. Channels, regardless of their political affiliation or ideological views, have to go through a rigorous process, Gupta said. “There are checks and balances like the name of the channel, capital adequacy of the owners, background checks of the management, disclosure of funding and shareholding,” he said.

Questions have also been raised on the type of channel that NaMo TV is. Public queries on microblogging platform Twitter had Tata Sky calling the channel a "Hindi news service" providing the latest breaking news on national politics.

Channel no 512 is NAMO TV, it is a Hindi news service which provides the latest breaking news on national politics ^Rudra

But in an interview to NDTV, Harit Nagpal, chief executive officer at Tata Sky said NaMo TV was a "special services channel", and not a regular channel.

Gupta, however, said there's nothing like a special service. This, according to him, is more of a circumvention of rules which isn't in the spirit of broadcasting.

A special allowance has been made for somebody without proper justification. This is a clear case which shows how a level playing field is being interfered with.

Apar Gupta, Supreme Court advocate

Sircar, who was also the former chief executive officer of Prasar Bharti, questioned NaMo TV's classification. “How does it fit in with TRAI's much-publicised regulation?” The telecom regulator came out with regulations pertaining to the distribution of television channels in February.

What is the character of this channel? Is it fish or fowl? Looks a bit fishy.

Jawhar Sircar, Former Secretary, I&B Ministry

The Opposition too has cried foul over the timing of the channel's launch and its content. The Election Commission has sought a response from the Information and Broadcasting ministry but Sircar said the poll watchdog is not doing enough. The Election Commission lacks the courage to take strong and bold steps, he said. "An Election Commission should be seen as something strong and impartial. A very good referee."

We are all Seshan's (TN Seshan, the former chief election commissioner) boys and we know that to establish the rule of law in elections took a lot of courage.

Jawhar Sircar, Former Secretary, I&B Ministry

The launch of NaMo TV may not be in violation of the Model Code of Conduct but it's certainly in violation of India's broadcasting laws, Gupta said. The Election Commission's actions hold more importance as they will determine how seriously the issue is being looked at, he said.

Watch the entire discussion here:

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