Some of the film industry’s biggest names had come together in the unprecedented legal action.
New Delhi:
Nearly a month after leading Bollywood filmmakers filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against “irresponsible reporting by certain media houses”, the court today said “no defamatory content” should be uploaded on social media or displayed on their channels. Some of the film industry’s biggest names, including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, came together in the unprecedented legal action against two channels – Republic TV and Times Now.
The lawsuit was filed amid the fallout of the Sushant Singh Rajput death investigation, which is being investigated by three probe agencies – the CBI, the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate.
Amid exchange of arguments, the court today recalled the circumstances under which British Royal Princess Diana died in 1997. “In the case of Princess Diana, she died because she was racing away from the media. You can’t just go on like this. The courts are the last ones to want to regulate,” the judge said.
During the hearing, as Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the media houses – AGR Outlier Media Pvt Ltd and Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd – to ensure that no defamatory content is uploaded on social media platforms or displayed on their channels, the lawyer representing Times Now sought for clarity and asked: “How do you define defamation here?”
As the court sought written statements in two weeks on the case, the channels were told: “Meanwhile, you should have no problem in following the Programme Code.”
The court, in its order, recorded the assurances by channels to follow the Cable TV Act & Rules, and the Programme Code. Next hearing has been scheduled for December 14.
