Lawyer petitions High Court to take Indian TV channels off air in Bangladesh

A hearing is expected to take place at some point this week

A lawyer has filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking a ban on the broadcast of all Indian television channels in Bangladesh.

The petition also requested an order to block advertisements targeting Bangladeshi audiences from airing on Indian channels.

Supreme Court lawyer Syeda Shaheen Ara filed the petition through her legal representative Eklas Uddin Bhuiyan on Monday.

Eklas said, "We requested an urgent hearing before the bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi. While the hearing is unlikely to happen today, it could take place later this week."

The petition called for a rule under Section 15(1) of the Cable Television Network Operations Act to explain why the broadcast of Indian TV channels should not be banned.

It also sought an order to halt advertisements targeting Bangladeshi audiences on Indian channels within seven days.

Additionally, the petition requested the court to order a report on the implementation of these measures within two weeks.

The respondents named in the petition include the information secretary, home secretary, chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, governor of Bangladesh Bank, director general of BTV, and the inspector general of police.