Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy has objected to the use of the name “Republic” for a TV channel. In a letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, he said the licence granted to popular news anchor Arnab Goswami to use the name should be revoked as it is a “direct breach” of the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950.
Certain names and emblems cannot be used for commercial and professional purposes as per the law, Swamy said in the letter dated January 13. “There is an express prohibition from using the phrase ‘Republic’...Your office may look into the use of ‘Republic’ and determine if it is prohibited to issue a licence under such name,” he told the I&B Ministry.
Goswami had announced his resignation from news channel TimesNow on November 1, after which there were reports that he would launch Republic as his new venture. He formally introduced the channel earlier in January.
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