New Delhi, Jan. 17: Information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi today said his ministry had decided to be lenient — in the Gandhian spirit, he stressed — towards the two channels that had telecast a video lampooning Mahatma Gandhi.

The government has closed the file on IBN-7 and Sahara, which had shown a video that was posted on www.youtube.com, in which an actor dressed as Gandhi did a pole dance, reports our special correspondent.

Served with a notice from the ministry, the channels had expressed regret.

Das Munshi said that was enough. The Gandhian way does not call for retribution, he added.

Recalling the signals he got from Sahara, he said that in the Gandhian spirit, the channel too should not punish its employees over the broadcast of the video.

Asked if any action was planned against YouTube, the minister said he had written to the information technology ministry, asking them to take action under the IT Act.