After stand-up 'offended decency'

Comedy Central has been ordered off the air for ten days in India after broadcasting ‘obscene’ jokes.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ruled that the English-language channel had twice aired offensive material last year and ordered the shutdown from today.

First was an unnamed stand-up who performed an ‘obscene’ act with ‘suggestive gestures’ that ‘offends good taste or decency’ and ‘denigrated women’ in a Comedy Central Presents slot in May.

The ruling referred to material that ‘indecently and crudely referred to sex organs of men and women’ adding that ‘the sing-song rendition by the man sought to pornographically describe the male lust, depicting women as a commodity of sex. The portrayal appeared to deprave, corrupt and injure the public morality or morals.’

Second was the hidden camera show Popcorn, which aired a gag in August in which a man is seen simulating sex with a pair of dummy legs.

Comedy Central apologised for airing the material, which it said was broadcast because of ‘unintentional genuine error’. However it contested the ban in Delhi High Court, but lost on Friday. Ministry secretary Uday Kumar Verma insisted: ‘This is not causing curtailment of freedom of expression in any way.’

India is fast developing its own stand-up scene, and earlier this month the Comedy Store announced plans to open venues across the country, after resolving some legal issues with its former Mumbai partner.

Published: 26 May 2013