New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS): The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the Centre to respond to a petition that seeks adequate steps to stop the broadcast of banned Pakistani channels in India.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice R.S. Endlaw asked counsel of the information and broadcasting ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to take instructions from the government on the issue by Jan 21.

The plea filed by Nishad Sharma said Pakistani channels which were banned by the government were being broadcast by Dish TV here without any permission from the government.

It said Dish TV provides channels which were "not in best interests of the country (India)", and asked the government to cancel the licences with respect to all the channels being aired by Dish TV.

"The government had banned the channels (Pakistani channels) for inciting religious tension and breaking national harmony of the country (India)," the plea said.

It named 16 Pakistani channels which were being broadcast here "illegally".

The channels mentioned included PTV Home, Hum TV, Film Azia, Khyber TV, Express Entertainment and Ariana TV among others.

It also asked the court to impose rigid rules pertaining to channels being aired throughout the country.