One of the lawyers noted that Arnab in one of his own said that Shah Rukh Khan was a jihadist and supports the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.
The Delhi High Court heard on Monday Bollywood’s petition against the Republic and Times Now television news channels for ‘defaming’ the reputation of the film industry during coverage of the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and issued notices to both news channels, looking for your answer. The Delhi High Court court headed by Judge Rajiv Shakdher also asked media companies AGR Outlier Media Pvt Ltd and Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd to ensure that no defamatory content is uploaded to social media platforms or displayed. on their channels.
The Delhi High Court was hearing the lawsuit brought by four Bollywood industry associations and 34 leading producers, which has tried to prevent them from interfering with the right to privacy of individuals associated with the industry.
Appearing for Bollywood, lead attorney Rajiv Nayar told the court that the two news channels were making a comparison between the film industry and the drug mafia. “Now they proceed as if we have ties to Pakistan and ISI. Your Honor will see the reports start with reports on Sushant Singh and move on to links with drug traffickers and Pakistan, ”the lawyer told the court, according to a report by Bar and Bench.
He added that Republic referred to celebrities and members of the film industry as ‘drug addicts’ and referred to Arnab Goswami’s debates where he asked Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar to “renounce their ties to the pro-Pak and anti -India”. He added that Arnab said that Shah Rukh Khan was a jihadist and supports Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“SRK must issue a public statement denouncing these links with supporters of terrorism,” Arnab had said.
Nayar added that after Republic TV, Times Now also started targeting Bollywood, but went one step further by accessing private WhatsApp chats, which he claims is a violation of the right to privacy of celebrities.
“This is more dangerous because this is actually the course of the investigation,” Nayar told the HC. The Bollywood lawyer also referred to the bail statement of Vibhor Anand, arrested for spreading conspiracy theories about the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, where he had said he was “influenced by Republic TV coverage.”
“This is to show how public perception is influencing all kinds of people,” the advocate said.
Lead attorney Akhil Sibal also appeared for Bollywood, saying that “a certain section of the media seems to have abandoned journalistic principles
The Delhi High Court later commented that “DD was much better” and that “fair reporting is expected.”
“The courts are hesitant (to restrict media reports) because it is a constitutional right. But you’re right, we expect fair reporting … We used to find Doordarshan very stale, but we had some lovely stations back then … In fact, I thought black and white and DD was so much better, ”Judge Shakdher said.
The court also asked what mechanism should be put in place to change the way reporting is done these days.
“People are very scared by the fourth estate. Even when the issue of the privacy of public figures is diluted, their personal lives cannot be dragged into the public domain … in the case of Princess Diana, she died because she was fleeing the media. You can not continue that way. The Courts are the last to want to regulate, ”the court also remarked.
“We are not saying that you cannot cover this news, you just have to do responsible journalism,” the court added. “Participants in the televised debates get so excited that they use bad words during the live broadcast.”
The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the two channels to submit a written response within two weeks. Meanwhile, the court also asked the channels to follow the Program Code and Cable TV Rules and ensure that no defamatory content is displayed on their channels or uploaded to social media. The court will continue hearing the case on December 14.
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