Zee News editors granted bail!

Today, the two Zee News Ltd Editors Sudhir Chaudhary (Zee News) and Samir Ahluwalia (Zee Business) have been granted bail in connection with the case relating to a series of exposes in the Coalgate scam involving Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal. Both editors had exposed Jindal’s efforts to silence the media’s coverage of Coalgate through the Rs 100 crore-advertisement contracts.

Today’s pronouncements by the Hon’ble Court came after the counsel for Zee Editors, said during the proceedings in the court, “that the FIR in the present case has been registered on the basis of an absolutely false and frivolous complaint filed at the behest of M/s Jindal Steel and Power. That according to them, a defamatory material was telecasted at Zee News Channel against the complainant and when the officials of the complainant company approached and the met the Editor, money was demanded in return to stop the telecasting against the complainant in the garb of advertisement contract.”

The counsel also submitted before the hon’ble court that to prove his bonafide and innocence his client (s) had consented to give a voice sample. That the present case and the allegations are totally false and fabricated. That the FIR and subsequent arrest  is nothing but a malicious exercise undertaken by the complainant in order to prevent the News Channel from raising a legitimate and important news story of public interest involving public figure. That no demand was ever made to the representative of the Jindal Group by his client (s) and have been alleged of in the FIR.  That the co-accused Punit Goenka has been granted interim anticipatory bail by the court on 6th December, 2012 and the present case is glaring example of misuse of legal system by Complainants Company. That his client (s) is/are available for interrogation by the IO as he has roots in the society, hence, there are negligible chances of fleeing from the law. That during the course of investigation, he had joined the investigation on many occasions whenever his presence was requisitioned. That he undertakes to co-operate with the Investigation Agencies and appear as and when called for. That there is no likelihood of his tampering with the evidence or influencing the witnesses. That his client (s) is/are is not a previous convict and he has clean antecedents in the society. That his countinous detention would cause serious damage to his reputation and cause severe damage to him socially and financially. Hence, the present application.”

“The his client (s) is/are have been granted bail, this shows that the Judiciary has been able to see through the wrong sections of CrPC which were wrongly put in the case and our stand has been vindicated, The court also used The Gurcharan Singh Vs State (Delhi Administration) 1979 SCC Crl. 43, to pronounce the case ,” Vijay Aggarwal, Zee News Limited Counsel said.

“The Delhi District court of Hon’ble Smt Rajrani Mitra has announced that two Zee News Editors to be released on bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs 50,000 each and told them to co-operate in the investigations. We had argued before the court that my client have been arrested in violation of the principles of CrPC. They have been arrested by invoking wrong sections of IPC so our stand has been vindicated and now the court has passed the bail order in favour of our client.  The Sessions court has directed their immediate release on furnishing the bail bonds,” Aggarwal said.