Bombay High Court stays Govt. order to reschedule ‘Bigg Boss’

MUMBAI - Viacom 18, which owns Colors channel has challenged the Central Government’s decision to restrict the airing of the TV show ‘Bigg Boss’ only between 11 PM and 5 AM in the Bombay High Court.

On Thursday, it won a reprieve and the show will not have to move to the 11 pm slot for now.

Colors, which moved the court this morning, said: “No date has been mentioned as to when the show was against good taste and decency. The channel also said that its content cannot be described as obscene.”

“The show has been on for one and a half months, what is the urgency suddenly?” asked Colors in court.

The channel further accepting that the government has the power to force a schedule change, said the advertisement commitment and content would have to be changed in that case.

Faced with mounting complaints from TV viewers and women outfits about objectionable contents, the Government had on Wednesday ordered channels airing TV shows ‘Big Boss’ and ‘Rakhi ka Insaaf’ to broadcast them only between 11 PM and 5 AM, virtually bracketing them as only for adult viewing.

“Both shows are not for universal viewing and can be aired only in the scheduled time slot,” said Ministry of Information and Broadcasting officials.

While ‘Big Boss’ is being aired on Colors, ‘Rakhi ka Insaaf’ is aired on NDTV Imagine.

The decisions were reportedly taken at an inter-ministerial meeting represented by Additional Secretaries from the Ministry of Home, Women and Child Development, External Affairs and Information and Broadcasting. (ANI)