UP court orders case against ANI editor Smita Prakash over alleged false news attributed to EC
New Delhi: In a significant legal development, a court in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, has reportedly directed that a complaint case be filed against Smita Prakash, the editor of the news agency ANI, for allegedly publishing false reports that were incorrectly attributed to the Election Commission (EC).
The complaint, filed by former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amitabh Thakur, accuses ANI of disseminating misleading information attributed to the Election Commission, which was not corroborated by any official statements on the poll body’s official website or social media channels, as reported by Live Law.
According to Thakur, this amounted to the agency "relaying/issuing false news in the name of the Commission without any official back up of any kind".
The complainant has been directed to appear before the court on September 26 to record his statement.
In his complaint, Thakur referred to several instances in August, including the new agency’s post on X that quoted the poll body in response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claims of vote theft.
Thakur said that ANI published a post at 3:08 p.m. on August 7 with a purported response from the Election Commission objecting to Gandhi’s allegations, the legal news outlet reported.
However, the Election Commission later issued its official statement, first in Hindi at 5:59 p.m. and in English at 7:55 p.m., directly from its verified handle on X. The EC called Gandhi's claims “misleading, baseless, and threatening.”
“ANI has been seen relaying…false news in the name of [the Election Commission] without any official back up of any kind,” Live Law quoted Thakur as saying. “The issue of leakage of news from ANI presents another aspect related with the functioning of ANI. It raises possibilities of illegal infiltration of ANI in the [Election Commission] system, to the extent of illegally procuring and then leaking insider information.”
He argued that this action could constitute a violation of multiple provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, specifically those related to cheating and causing wrongful loss.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
