LEARN FROM CHINA: Models at China Fashion Week in Beijing show how to cling to each other without crossing the limits. (AFP picture)

New Delhi, March 28: The Centre today decided to ban FTV for 10 days for “too much nudity” in some of its shows as part of the government’s crackdown on TV channels telecasting “vulgar and explicit” content.

The channel, which will remain grounded from midnight March 31 to April 10, has been penalised for its late night episodes of Midnight Haute & Designers in High Definition and Chantellie Lingerie, Paris, which were telecast in September 2011.

The directive issued to the channel by the information and broadcasting ministry noted that “in the garb of showing models showcasing designer and fashion attire, the programmes showed the form and figure of women in an indecent way. The visuals offended good taste and decency (and) were obscene and vulgar and were not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition and also not suitable for children, violating the provisions of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994.”

Referring to Midnight Haute & Designers in High Definition, the order said that the “programme… on September 11, 2011, at 10.40pm showed models walking on the ramp while in the background a man in an underwear is shown clinging to a woman in an embrace. Both are shown insinuatingly swaying their bodies and making suggestive postures. Such a portrayal appears to offend good taste and decency and also appears obscene.”

Chantellie Lingerie, Paris, also found objectionable, was telecast the very next day. Telecast during the day, the episode showed a woman flaunting her back. In the same month, Lingerie featured nearly nude women. The ministry, said officials, also received a complaint on objectionable content in 15th Anniversary—Top Designers, which was telecast in April 2012.

After a hearing on the complaints, a notice was sent to the channel, which defended the shows. The channel said the programmes in question dealt with contemporary fashion trends in the lingerie section and were meant for fashion press, large retail brands and high-end consumers.

However, when the matter was taken to an inter-ministerial committee, the channel admitted that “slip-offs” had happened from uplinking centres and some visuals had not been blurred.

The channel also said the programmes were meant for fashion-conscious mature audiences who understood the nuances of lifestyle content representation in its true form with an international and Indian perspective.

Finding the channel guilty of violating various clauses of the programme act, the ministry decided to ban the channel for 10 days. A warning has also been issued that any more violation in the future may entail more stringent action in terms of suspension or prohibition of broadcast of the channel for a longer period or prohibition of the channel.

FTV had faced the government’s ire in 2007 and 2010 when its transmission was banned for two months and nine days respectively.

Earlier this year, the government had penalised three entertainment channels — Zing, Enter10 and STV — for showing “obscene visuals” during unrestricted hours.