Committee to Protect Journalists calls defamation suit against NDTV an attack on press freedom
New Delhi, Oct 20: The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday condemned the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Group’s defamation case against NDTV, asking it to end its excessive use of civil defamation cases against critical news outlets. In a statement on Thursday, the news channel had said that Ambani’s group has sued it for Rs 10,000 crore over its coverage of the Rafale jet deal.
The defamation lawsuit was filed after an episode of NDTV’s weekly show Truth vs Hype that aired on September 29. The matter has been listed for hearing on October 26.
NDTV denied the charges and said it will argue in court that they are “a heavy-handed attempt by Anil Ambani’s group to suppress the facts and prevent the media from doing its job – asking questions about a defence deal and seeking answers that are very much in public interest”.
“The ridiculously massive civil defamation claim Reliance Group has made against NDTV amounts to a severe attack on press freedom in India,” Committee to Protect Journalists’ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler said on Friday. “India’s judiciary must ensure that powerful business groups cannot abuse the country’s legal system to silence critics.”
The United States-based non-governmental organisation pointed out that the Reliance Group had repeatedly ignored NDTV’s requests to participate in the show or submit a written response. The panel also said that the Reliance Group had filed a defamation suit for Rs 5,000 crore against Congress mouthpiece National Herald.
The Committee to Protect Journalists added that a spokesperson for the Reliance Group refused to respond to its request for comment.
Courtesy: scroll.in
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
