Updated: October 13, 2020 7:54:55 am
The production companies moved the Delhi High Court against Republic TV and Times Now and their main publishers.
Thirty-eight leading film associations and production houses, including Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, Ajay Devgn Films and those owned by Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, on Monday moved the Delhi High Court against Republic TV and Times Now and their senior editors, seeking a “perpetual and permanent” court order against them to make or publish “irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory comments” against the film industry and those who are part of it.
The civil suit, filed through DSK Legal, is against Republic TV, its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and consulting editor Pradeep Bhandari; and, Times Now, its editor-in-chief, Rahul Shivshankar, and the editor of the Times Network group, Navika Kumar. Social media platforms have also been added as parties to the case.
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The petitioners have requested the intervention of the court to ensure that the channels and their journalists comply with the provisions of the Program Code under the 1994 Cable Television Network Rules, and remove, recall and remove all allegedly defamatory content published for them against Bollywood.
Those who have moved to the High Court are the Film and Television Producers Guild of India (PGI), the Film and Television Artists Association (CINTAA), the Council of Film and Television Producers of India (IFTPC) , The Writers Association (SWA), Aamir Khan Productions, Ad-Labs Films, Ajay Devgn Films, Andolan Films, Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network, Arbaaz Khan Productions, Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, BSK Network and Entertainment, Cape of Good Films, Clean Slate Filmz, Dharma Productions, Emmay Entertainment & Motion Pictures, Excel Entertainment, Filmkraft Productions, Hope Production, Kabir Khan Films, Luv Films, Macguffin Pictures, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, One India Stories, RS Entertainment (Ramesh Sippy Entertainment), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures, Red Chillies Entertainment, Reel Life Productions, Reliance Big Entertainment, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Roy Kapur Films, Salman Khan Films, Sikhya Entertainment, Sohail Kha n Productions, Tiger Baby Digital, Vinod Chopra Films, Vishal Bhardw aj Pictures and Yashraj Films.
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Seeking instructions to prevent the two channels from carrying out “media lawsuits of Bollywood personalities” and interfering with their right to privacy, the lawsuit claims that it was filed because the channels used “highly derogatory words and expressions” to the industry.
The channels, he claimed, are conducting and publishing parallel “private investigations” and effectively acting as courts to convict people associated with Bollywood as guilty.
“Bollywood is unique and stands on a different base from any other industry in that it is an industry that relies almost exclusively on the goodwill, appreciation and acceptance of its audience. The livelihoods of those associated with Bollywood are being severely affected by the smear campaign carried out by the Defendants, ”the lawsuit states.
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He also claimed that the pandemic has resulted in extreme loss of income and job opportunities for people associated with Bollywood. “The privacy of Bollywood members is being invaded, and their reputations are being irreparably damaged by painting all of Bollywood as criminals, seeping into drug culture and making being part of Bollywood synonymous with criminal acts in the imagination of the public “, declared demand.
In response to this, Arnab Goswami, on a program about the Republic, said: “Our search for the truth will only get stronger, more intense and more focused.”
Rahul Shivshankar, in a Twitter post, said the case was a “bad precedent” and will not “weaken the resolution” of Times Now. Navika Kumar, who tagged actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan and producer Karan Johar in her tweet, said: “If fighting for justice invites court cases, go ahead.”
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