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Delhi High Court hard on racist ads

The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to take a decision on the beaming of ads with racist overtones. The ads in question were telecast by Nimbus Communications Limited, owner of the tv channel Neo Sports, during the the recent India-West Indies and India-Sri Lanka one-day cricket series. A division bench was responding to a public interest petition seeking a stay on the beaming of the ads.

The bench also refused to entertain a request by Nimbus Communications's counsel for modifications in the order. The media company's counsel submitted that the ads were put out in a light-hearted vein and were not aimed at hurting sentiments. "The telecaster should have come with an affidavit stating that it would not show such advertisements in future,' the bench observed.