Ambani vs NDTV: Rs.2 crore defamation battle reaches Delhi HC
The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to NDTV and its CEO and editor-in-chief, Rahul Kanwal, after debt-sunken industrialist Anil Ambani sued the media house for defamation over its reporting of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) case against his companies.
Anil Ambani told the High Court that the Adani Group, the majority shareholder of NDTV, wants to take over his companies, and that the news channel has published 72 pointed articles against him in the last few months to facilitate its ultimate owners’ “predatory strategies”.
Ambani’s counsel said that the investigating agencies have filed cases against Reliance, but every time a person is arrested, NDTV names Ambani. Justice Subramonium Prasad directed NDTV to respond to Ambani’s plea for an interim injunction against the publication of the allegedly defamatory news reports and listed the matter for further proceedings in July.
Ambani moved the Court, taking exception to NDTV’s coverage of the CBI and ED proceedings against Reliance. He has sought over Rs.2 crores in damages. The damages, Ambani said, will be donated to charity. Anil Ambani already filed a defamation case against Arnab Goswami and Republic TV on the same matter.
Apart from NDTV and Rahul Kanwal, Ambani has named IANS (the wire service also owned by the Adani Group), Manoranjan Bharti (NDTV Managing Editor), Tamanna Inamdar (NDTV Profit Managing Editor), and Ashish Manchanda (IANS Editor) as defendants in his suit. Interestingly, IANS was earlier owned by Anil Ambani and two years ago was sold to Gautam Adani.
Ambani has argued that NDTV is trying to cause panic in the markets, adversely influence public perception of Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure, and manipulate market sentiment to serve the Adani Group’s vested interests. “The Plaintiff states that the ultimate owners of Defendant Nos. 1 – 3 [NDTV, NDTV Convergence, and IANS] have launched a deliberate, targeted, and relentless smear campaign against the Plaintiff, so as to derive unjust gains by injuring the Plaintiff’s reputation, goodwill, and well-being, as well as the reputation and goodwill of the Reliance ADA Group,” the suit states.
Advocate Shri Venkatesh appeared for Ambani and argued that every time a person is arrested in cases against Reliance, NDTV names Ambani. “There have been 72 pointed publications against me. Every time a person is arrested… I am distinct from the entity [Reliance], and the persons being arrested belong to that entity,” he argued. He also referred to an NDTV Profit story, which allegedly stated that Ambani was restrained from leaving the country. “I had given an undertaking… This kind of mischaracterisation has to stop,” he added.
Justice Prasad said that the matter involves Article 19 (freedom of speech) rights and, therefore, he will issue notice to the media house before considering the plea for an interim injunction. “Article 19(1)(a)… I have passed orders like that [injunction], but not on the first date. I have had at least 8 hearings,” the judge said. He then proceeded to issue notice to NDTV and its parent company, AMG Media Networks Limited, and sought their responses.
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