Madras HC Asks State On Telecasting Assembly Proceedings, Raises Concerns Over Edited Footage

The Madras High Court has recently asked the Tamil Nadu (TN) government regarding the telecast of State assembly proceedings at the conclusion of each session, while removing footage of all expunged remarks.

A division bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu directed TN Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram to clarify whether a proposal for live telecast of zero-hour speeches was already being considered.

The court was addressing two public interest litigation (PIL) petitions filed in 2012 and 2015 by two regional parties from the State, seeking live telecast of TN Assembly proceedings.

On June 6,2023, AIADMK leader SP Velumani also demanded live telecast and expressed interest in joining the proceedings.

Senior Advocate Vijay Narayan, representing Velumani, informed the bench that while the mobile application ‘National eVidhan App’ allows users to watch the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and all legislative assemblies on their phones, Tamil Nadu only broadcasts truncated portions of the assembly proceedings through the app.

Previously, Velumani and the original PIL petitioners, D Jagadheeswaran and A Vijayakant, alleged that the TN government was selectively editing out speeches and questions raised by opposition members in the assembly. However, Advocate General Shunmugasundaram refuted these allegations. He cited an additional counter affidavit filed by State Assembly Secretary K Srinivasan, stating that the speaker of the assembly had recently informed the House about the ongoing consideration of live telecast for zero-hour speeches.

In response, the bench requested the Advocate General to clarify if the speaker had indeed made such a statement and the specific timing of it.

Additionally, the Court questioned why the proceedings could not be telecast after the removal of “expunged remarks.”

The matter is scheduled for further consideration on 26^th June, 2023.