ARTICLES FOR CONTROL AND REGULATION OF TV CHANNELS IN INDIA THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE INDIA EDITION 28 MAY 2013 Indian Court Temporarily Lifts Ban on Comedy Central BY SEAN MCLAIN AND SAPTARISHI DUTTA NEW DELHI—Delhi's high court on Tuesday temporarily lifted a 10-day broadcast ban on Viacom Inc.'s Comedy Central channel imposed over the weekend as a penalty for breaching India's moral guidelines for cable channels. The court said it has suspended the ban while it reassesses the merits of the case. India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting this month found that two Comedy Central programs—a French prank show that featured simulated sex with a dummy and a stand-up comedy act—contravened the 1994 Cable Television Network Rules. The regulations prohibit programming that "offends against good taste or decency," the ministry said in its May 17 ruling. The ministry imposed a 10-day ban on Comedy Central that began on Saturday. Viacom 18 Media Ltd., a joint venture between Viacom and India's Network 18 Group, appealed the ruling on Saturday at the Delhi High Court. A high court judge upheld the ban that day. Viacom 18 Media on Monday filed an appeal of that decision with the high court. In a ruling Tuesday, a different judge vacated that decision, temporarily lifting the ban while the high court examines the appeal. The court also said it agreed to temporarily revoke the suspension after Viacom 18 Media agreed not to air the two programs. A spokeswoman for Viacom 18 Media confirmed the court had lifted the ban but declined to comment further. According to local media reports, the company's appeal on Monday argued that the ban violates freedom-of-speech provisions of the Indian Constitution and is out of line with international practices. A debate over limits to free speech is raging in India. The constitution allows restrictions on free speech for a number of reasons, including defence of "the sovereignty and integrity" of the country and in order to maintain "public order, decency or morality." Critics say the government has used the vague framing of the constitution to clamp down on a widening array of Internet material, threatening India's democratic traditions. In 2011, the government framed new rules that require Internet companies to remove within 36 hours material that falls into a range of subjective categories—for instance, material considered "ethnically objectionable," "grossly harmful," "defamatory" or "blasphemous."