The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) has directed News18 Rajasthan to remove an interview about the Tirupati laddu controversy within seven days from its channel for violating its guidelines.
In an interview with a self-styled godman, ‘Swami Dipankar’, the News18 anchor can be seen asking if the adulteration in the Tirupati laddu was a conspiracy against the Hindu community.
While directing the removal of the interview, the NBDSA said, “..the broadcaster should adhere to the specific guidelines covering Reportage, under which ‘Facts should be clearly distinguishable from, and not be mixed-up with opinion, analysis and comment’ while discussing any subject.”
In his complaint, activist Indrajeet Ghorpade had questioned News18 “as to why it was spreading fake news that animal fat in the Tirupati temple laddu is a Congress Party conspiracy”. Saying that it went against accuracy, objectivity, neutrality and fairness, the activist had requested the news channel to remove the broadcast and publish a clarification.
In its response to the complaint, News18 said that it had revised the title of the interview and its thumbnail of its own volition.
Pointing out a discrepancy, the NBDSA said, “While the title of the impugned broadcast ‘Tirupati Laddu Animal Fat Row: Tirupati Ke Prasad Mein Beef, Congress Ka Badha Shadyantra’ had been revised to ‘Tirupati Laddu Animal Fat Row: Tirupati Ke Prasad Mein Beef, Kya Bole Swami Dipankar? | N18V’ as stated by the broadcaster in its response, the broadcast itself had not been revised.”
The regulatory body questioned the overall tone of the programme which seemed to be “less about seeking accountability or the ghee adulteration” and instead provided “the interviewee with a platform to expound his views on the Sanatan Dharma, which was a deviation from the intended subject for the interview.”
It also said that contrary to News18’s claims that the programme had been removed, the broadcast was still available on its channel and asked it to remove it within seven days from its order dated Jan 28, 2025
The video was available on News18’s YouTube channel at the time of publication.