The latest resignation of NDTV’s CEO Suparna Singh shows that the corrupt TV channel caught laundering money, has no respect for the law in India. Suparna was forced to resign after the Information & Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) found that she was an American Citizen and it is a clear violation. As per the laws and rules, In Television and Print media, all top posts including the post of the Editor should be a resident Indian Citizen.

This rule is well-known. Appointing Suparna Singh as the CEO in December 2017 shows the arrogance this company has towards India and its laws while preaching morals all the time. I&B never approved this and at last, she was forced to resign and NDTV informed the Stock Exchanges on August 22 of the same. The company put out a bland notification to the Stock Exchanges without revealing the exact reason for her resignation. They simply said as she did not get the approval of the I&B Ministry[1].

Actually, the erring media world was first caught by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy while going to Delhi High Court (HC) in 2012 against ‘The Hindu’ newspaper’s appointment of American citizen Siddharth Varadarajan as the Chief Editor.

Suparna Singh obtained United States (US) Citizenship during her studies in America in the mid-90s. It is interesting to note that Indian media organizations that talk about the illegality of others are often guilty of the same illegality. Many US, Singapore and British Citizens were illegally appointed by many Newspapers and TV Channels as their Editors and posted in top managerial positions. The rule is crystal clear. Only resident Indian Citizens can by appointed in such posts in India. Even Non-Resident Indians (NRI)s can’t be appointed.

Actually, the erring media world was first caught by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy while going to Delhi High Court (HC) in 2012 against ‘The Hindu’ newspaper’s appointment of American citizen Siddharth Varadarajan as the Chief Editor. Soon after the HC issued notice to Siddharth Varadarajan and ‘The Hindu’ newspaper, the management removed the American editor. As both the newspaper and Siddharth Varadarajan did not respond to Delhi High Court’s notice and Swamy’s case became hostile and the Judgment observed that media organizations would maintain the rules specified. Though Registrar of Newspaper India (RNI) objected to Siddharth Varadarajan’s US Citizenship, the Hindu Management was trying to ignore it and rectified the mistake after Delhi High Court issued notice on Swamy’s petition.

The Hindustan Times in 2016 also violated the norm by appointing American citizen Bobby Ghosh as its Editor. Before the Government clampdown, owner Shobhana Bhartia removed her imported Editor and patched up with the Government.

References:

[1] NDTV’s Suparna Singh resigns with immediate effect – Aug 22, 2019, OpIndia.com