Updated:  02 Sep 2014 12:30 pm

NEW DELHI: News broadcaster Al Jazeera is expected to respond well in time to the show cause issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for allegedly depicting a wrong map of India in its news reports. 

Sources confirming the issuance of the notice said a period had been given to the channel to reply to the notice.

The Ministry had said that it had come to its attention that a wrong map of India had been shown in its news broadcasts by the channel last year more than once, in which parts of the country were shown outside the border. 

"It had come to the notice of the Ministry that in some of the news reports shown by the channel in 2013 related to various incidents, parts of Jammu and Kashmir were shown in territory outside India. The Ministry took the matter with the office of Surveyor General of India. 

"After a report was received from the office of Surveyor General of India, a show cause notice has been issued to the channel," a source said. 

Under the Cable TV Networks Rules 1994, no programme should be carried in the Cable Service which contains anything affecting the integrity of a nation. 

An official spokesperson from the company said, “Al Jazeera takes all feedback on its coverage very seriously.  Our editorial policy is always in line with international law, and to ensure the greatest integrity and quality of information to our viewers in India and right around the world.

“Our style guide says: ‘Any map of India must include Indian-Administered Kashmir, and any map of Pakistan must include Pakistan-Administered Kashmir.  The borders of Kashmir should be a dotted line.’ Some of our maps of both India and Pakistan though did not have the disputed territories clearly visible. This has been rectified.”