PRASAR BHARATI BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF INDIA ACT, 1990
(1) This Act may be called the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint.
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1. Came into force on 15-9-1997, vide S.O. 509 (E), dated 22nd July, 1997, published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Pt. II, Sec. 3(ii), dated 22nd July, 1997.
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In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) "Akashvani" means the offices, stations and other establishments, by whatever name called, which, immediately before the appointed day, formed part of or were under the Director-General, All India Radio of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting;
(b) "appointed day" means the date appointed under section 3;
(c) "broadcasting" means the dissemination of any form of communication like signs, signals, writing, pictures, images and sounds of all kinds by transmission of electro-magnetic waves through space or through cables intended to be received by the general public either directly or indirectly through the medium of relay stations and all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions shall be constr
(1) With effect from such date as the Central Government may by notification appoint in this behalf, there shall be established for the purposes of this Act a Corporation, to be known as the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India).
(2) The Corporation shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having
perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall by the said name sue and be sued.
(3) The headquarters of the Corporation shall be at New Delhi and the Corporation may establish offices, kendras or stations at other places in India and, with the previous approval of the Central Government, outside India.
(4) The general superintendence, d
(1) The Chairman and the other Members, except the ex officio Members, the Nominated Member and the elected Members shall be appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of—
(a) the Chairman of the Council of States, who shall be the Chairman of the committee;
(b) the Chairman of the Press Council of India established under section 4 of the Press Council Act, 1978 (37 of 1978); and
(c) one nominee of the President of India.
(2) No appointment of a Member shall be invalidated merely by reason of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the committee appointed under sub-section (1).
(3) The Chairman and the Part-time Members shall be persons of
The Executive Member shall be the Chief Executive of the Corporation and shall, subject to the control and supervision of the Board, exercise such powers and discharge such functions of the Board as it may delegate to him.
(1) The Chairman shall be Part-time Member and shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he enters upon his office.
(2) The Executive Member, the Member (Finance) and the Member (Personnel) shall be Whole-time Members and every such Member shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains the age of sixty-two years, whichever is earlier.
(3) The term of office of Part-time Members shall be six years, but one-third of such Members shall retire on the expiration of every second year.
(4) The term of office of an elected Member shall be two years or till he ceases to be an employee of the Corporation, whichever is earlier.
(5) As soon as may be after the establishment o
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), the Chairman or any other Member, except an ex officio Member, the Nominated Member and an elected Member, shall only be removed from his office by order of the President of India on the ground of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court, on a reference being made to it by the President, has, on inquiry held in accordance with such procedure as the Supreme Court may by rules provide, reported that the Chairman or such other Member, as the case may be, ought, on such ground, be removed.
(2) The President may suspend from office the Chairman or other Member except an ex officio Member, the Nominated Member or an elected Member, in respect of whom a reference has been made to the Supreme Court under sub-section (1) until the President has passed orders on receipt of the report of the Supreme Court on such reference.
(1) The Board shall meet at such times and places and shall observe such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings (including the quorum at meetings) as may be provided by regulations:
Provided that there shall not be less than six meetings every year but three months shall not intervene between one meeting and the next meeting.
(2) A Member shall be deemed to have vacated his office if he absents himself for three consecutive meetings of the Board without the leave of the Chairman.
(3) The Chairman shall preside at the meetings of the Board and if for any reason he is unable to attend any meeting, the Executive Member and in the absence of both, any other Member elected by the Members present at such meeting, shall preside at the meeting.
(1) Subject to such control, restrictions and conditions as may be prescribed, the Corporation may appoint, after consultation with the Recruitment Board, the Director-General (Akashvani), the Director-General (Doordarshan) and such other officers and other employees as may be necessary.
(2) The method of recruitment of such officers and employees and all other matters connected therewith and the conditions of service of such officers and other employees shall be such as may be provided by regulations.
(1) The Corporation shall, as soon as may be, after the appointed day and in such manner and subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, establish for the purposes of section 9, one or more Recruitment Boards consisting wholly of persons other than the Members, officers and other employees of the Corporation:
Provided that for the purposes of appointment to the posts carrying scales of pay which are not less than that of a Joint Secretary to the Central Government, the Recruitment Board shall consist of the Chairman, other Members, the ex officio Members, the Nominated Member and the elected Members.
(2) The qualifications and other conditions of service of the members constituting the Recruitment Board and the period for which such members shall hold office, shall be such as may be prescribed.
(1) Where the Central Government has ceased to perform any functions which under section 12 are the functions of the Corporation, it shall be lawful for the Central Government to transfer, by order and with effect from such date or dates as may be specified in the order, to the Corporation any of the officers or other employees serving in the Akashvani or Doordarshan and engaged in the performance of those functions:
Provided that no order under this sub-section shall be made in relation to any officer or other employee in the Akashvani or Doordarshan who has, in respect of the proposal of the Central Government to transfer such officer or other employee to the Corporation, intimated within such time as may be specified in this behalf by the Central Government, his intention of not becoming an employee of the Corporation.
(2) The provisi
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be the primary duty of the Corporation to organise and conduct public broadcasting services to inform, educate and entertain the public and to ensure a balanced development of broadcasting on radio and television.
Explanation.— For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the provisions of this section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (13 of 1885).
(2) The Corporation shall, in the discharge of its functions, be guided by the following objectives, namely:—
(a) upholding the unity and integrity of the country and the values enshrined in the Constitution;
(b) safeguarding the citizens right to be informed freely, truthful
(1) There shall be constituted a Committee consisting of twenty-two Members of Parliament, of whom fifteen from the House of the People to be elected by the Members thereof and seven from the Council of States to be elected by the Members thereof in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, to oversee that the Corporation discharges its functions in accordance with the provisions of this Act and, in particular, the objectives set out in section 12 and submit a report thereon to Parliament.
(2) The Committee shall function in accordance with such rules as may be made by the Speaker of the House of the People.
(1) There shall be established, by notification, as soon as may be after the appointed day, a Council, to be known as the Broadcasting Council, to receive and consider complaints referred to in section 15 and to advise the Corporation in the discharge of its functions in accordance with the objectives set out in section 12.
(2) The Broadcasting Council shall consist of—
(i) a President and ten other members to be appointed by the President of India from amongst persons of eminence in public life;
(ii) four Members of Parliament, of whom two from the House of the People to be nominated by the Speaker thereof and two from the Council of States to be nominated by the Chairman thereof.
(3) The President of the Broadcasting Council shall be a who
(1) The Broadcasting Council shall receive and consider complaints from—
(i) any person or group of persons alleging that a certain programme or broadcast or the functioning of the Corporation in specific cases or in general is not in accordance with the objectives for which the Corporation is established;
(ii) any person (other than an officer or employee of the Corporation) claiming himself to have been treated unjustly or unfairly in any manner (including unwarranted invasion of privacy, misrepresentation, distortion or lack of objectivity) in connection with any programme broadcast by the Corporation.
(2) A complaint under sub-section (1) shall be made in such manner and within such period as may be specified by regulations.
(3) The Bro
As from the appointed day—
(a) all property and assets (including the Non-lapsable Fund) which immediately before that day vested in the Central Government for the purpose of Akashvani or Doordarshan or both shall stand transferred to the Corporation on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Central Government and the book value of all such property and assets shall be treated as the capital provided by the Central Government to the Corporation;
(b) all debts, obligations and liabilities incurred, all contracts entered into and all matters and things engaged to be done by, with or for the Central Government immediately before such day for or in connection with the purposes of Akashvani or Doordarshan or both shall be deemed to have been incurred, entered into and engaged to be done by, with or for the Corporation; <
For the purposes of enabling the Corporation to discharge its functions efficiently under this Act, the Central Government may, after due appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the Corporation in each financial year—
(i) the proceeds of the broadcast receiver licence fees, if any, as reduced by the collection charges; and
(ii) such other sums of money as that Government considers necessary,
by way of equity, grant-in-aid or loan.
(1) The Corporation shall have its own Fund and all the receipts of the Corporation (including the amounts which stand transferred to the Corporation under section 16) shall be credited to the Fund and all payments by the Corporation shall be made therefrom.
(2) All moneys belonging to the Fund shall be deposited in one or more nationalised banks in such manner as the Corporation may decide.
(3) The Corporation may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing its functions under this Act and such sums shall be treated as expenditure payable out of the Fund of the Corporation.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "nationalised bank" means a corresponding new bank specified in the First Schedule to the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 or a corre
The Corporation may invest its moneys in the securities of the Central Government or any State Government or in such other manner as may be prescribed.
(1) The Corporation shall prepare, in each financial year, an Annual Financial Statement for the next financial year showing separately—
(a) the expenditure which is proposed to be met from the internal resources of the Corporation; and
(b) the sums required from the Central Government to meet other expenses, and distinguishing—
(i) revenue expenditure from other expenditure; and
(ii) non-plan expenditure from plan expenditure.
(2) The Annual Financial Statement shall be prepared in such form and forwarded at such time to the Central Government for its approval as may be agreed to by that Government and the Corporation.
(1) The Corporation shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) The accounts of the Corporation shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the Corporation to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Corporation shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General has in connection with the audit of Government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books,
[Repealed by Act 20 of 2002, sec. 163 (w.e.f. 1-4-2003).]
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1. Section 22, before repeal by Act 20 of 2002, stood as under:
“22. Corporation not liable to be taxed.—Notwithstanding anything contained in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), or any other enactment for the time being in force relating to income-tax or any other tax on income, profits or gains, the Corporation shall not be liable to pay any income-tax or any other tax in respect of—
(a) any income, profits or gains, accruing or arising out of the Fund of the Corporation or any amount received in that Fund; and
(b) any income, profits or gains, derived or
(1) The Central Government may, from time to time as and when occasion arises, issue to the Corporation such directions as it may think necessary in the interests of the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India or the security of the State or preservation of public order requiring it not to make a broadcast on a matter specified in the direction or to make a broadcast on any matter of public importance specified in the direction.
(2) Where the Corporation makes a broadcast in pursuance of the direction issued under sub-section (1), the fact that such broadcast has been made in pursuance of such direction may also be announced along with such broadcast, if the Corporation so desires.
(3) A copy of every direction issued under sub-section (1) shall be laid before each House of Parliament.
The Central Government may require the Corporation to furnish such information as that Government may consider necessary.
(1) Where the Board persistently makes default in complying with any directions issued under section 23 or fails to supply the information required under section 24, the Central Government may prepare a report thereof and lay it before each House of Parliament for any recommendation thereof as to any action (including supersession of the Board) which may be taken against the Board.
(2) On the recommendation of the Parliament, the President may by notification supersede the Board for such period not exceeding six months as may be specified in the notification:
Provided that before issuing the notification under this sub-section, the President shall give a reasonable opportunity to the Board to show cause as to why it should not be superseded and shall consider the explanations and objections, if any, of the Board.
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It is hereby declared that the office of the member of the Broadcasting Council or of the Committee constituted under section 13 shall not disqualify its holder for being chosen as, or for being, a Member of either House of Parliament.
The Chairman and every other Member, every officer or other employee of the Corporation and every member of a committee thereof, the President and every member of the Broadcasting Council or every member of a Regional Council or a Recruitment Board shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Corporation, the Chairman or any Member or officer or other employee thereof or the President or a member of the Broadcasting Council or a member of a Regional Council or a Recruitment Board for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or of any rules or regulations made thereunder.
All orders and decisions of the Corporation shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman or any other Member authorised by the Corporation in this behalf and all other instruments executed by the Corporation shall be authenticated by the signature of the Executive Member or by any officer of the Corporation authorised by him in this behalf.
The Corporation may, by general or special order, delegate to the Chairman or any other Member or to any officer of the Corporation, subject to such conditions and limitations, if any, as may be specified therein, such of its powers and duties under this Act as it may deem fit.
(1) The Corporation shall prepare once in every calendar year, in such form and within such time as may be prescribed an annual report giving a full account of its activities (including the recommendations and suggestions made by the Broadcasting Council and the action taken thereon) during the previous year and copies thereof shall be forwarded to the Central Government and that Government shall cause the same to be laid before each House of Parliament.
(2) The Broadcasting Council shall prepare once in every calendar year, in such form and within such time as may be prescribed, an annual report giving a full account of its activities during the previous year and copies thereof shall be forwarded to the Central Government and that Government shall cause the same to be laid before each House of Parliament.
(1) The Central Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the salaries and allowances and conditions of service in respect of leave, pension (if any), provident fund and other matters in relation to the Whole-time Members under sub-section (7) of section 6;
(b) the allowances payable to the Chairman and Part-time Members under sub-section (8) of section 6;
(c) the control, restrictions and conditions subject to which the Corporation may appoint officers and other employees under sub-section (1) of section 9;
&n
(1) The Corporation may, by notification, make regulations not inconsistent with this Act and the rules made thereunder for enabling it to perform its functions under this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the manner in which and the purposes for which the Corporation may associate with itself any person under sub-section (7) of section 3;
(b) the times and places at which meetings of the Board shall be held and, the procedure to be followed thereat, and the quorum necessary for the transaction of the business at a meeting of the Board under sub-section (1) of section 8;
(c) the methods of recruitment and conditions of serv
Every rule and every regulation made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or regulation, or both Houses agree that the rule or regulation should not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or regulation.
If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order, published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as it may deem necessary, for the removal of the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of three years from the appointed day.
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