NEW DELHI: News broadcaster NDTV has been issued a show cause notice for its live coverage of the security forces' operations at Pathankot to flush out terrorists who were engaged in an encounter.

Stating this in the Parliament, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said that the notice had been issued under Rule 6(1)(p) of the Cable Television Network Rules 1994.

He said the Ministry had brought out amendments on 23 March last year in Rule 6 of the Rules to prohibit live coverage of operation by security forces. Rule 6 of Programme Code was amended by inserting a clause (p) under sub rule (1) whereby no programme should be carried in the cable service, which ‘contains live coverage of any anti-terrorist operation by security forces, wherein media coverage shall be restricted to periodic briefing by an officer designated by the appropriate Government, till such operation concludes.’

Answering a question, he said in order to implement the Rules, the Home Ministry has issued Advisories to the States whereby the DGP of the State concerned has been designated as appropriate authority for specifying an operation and the spokesperson of the State Police has been made the designated officer for the purpose of briefing the media during the anti-terrorist operations.