Delhi High Court stays 24-hour ban on AXN channel

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has stayed an order prohibiting the transmission of the AXN channel for one day for allegedly showing a film - Darkness Falls - with an ?A? certificate.

Issuing a notice to the information and broadcasting ministry, the court listed the matter for further hearing on 13 July.

The ministry had imposed the punishment on the channel with effect from 28 April for violating the programme code.

The film ?Darkness Falls?, a 2003 horror film by Jonathan Liebesman, had initially been given an ?Adults Only? certificate for theatrical exhibition by the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC).

However the petitioner, Sony Pictures Entertainment, said that the film had been re-certified after necessary changes as a ?UA? film (suitably for viewing by children under parental guidance) for television broadcast.

The petitioner said that while the film telecast on AXN was the UA version, the ?A? certificate had been screened before the film by sheer human error.

The film stars Chaney Kley, Emma Caulfield, Lee Cormie, and Antony Burrows.