NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has issued a warning to a private Hindi news channel for showing a programme questioning Vice President Hamid Ansari for not saluting national flag during the republic day parade early this year.
In the warning to Sudarshan News TV channel, the ministry said that the channel had twice run the programme with a headline 'Hamid Ansari Jawab Do'. The ministry said that the Flag Code of India requires that during the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the tricolour or when it is passing in a parade or in a review, all persons present should face the flag and stand at attention.
"The Hon’ble Vice President of India was seen standing in attention during the ceremony. As was required by the code, those present in uniform were rendering the appropriate salute. Therefore, the allegations of the channel that the Vice President had defamed/dishonoured the National Flag by not saluting appeared to be intended to cast aspersion on the Vice President as such claim was completely false, misleading, incorrect and in bad taste," the ministry said in its order issued on June 7.
Therefore, the allegations of the channel that the vice president defamed/dishonoured the National flag by not saluting appeared to be intended to cast aspersion on the Vice president as such claim was completely false, misleading, incorrect and in bad taste, the order added.
The channel had owned up the mistake and added that it had no motive to hurt the dignity of the constitutional post of the Vice President.