NEW DELHI: Zee News Limited (ZNL) has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar requesting her to remove Naveen Jindal, who is also a Congress MP, from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs for alleged conflict of interest.

In a letter sent on 3 April, Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has held that a free and fair investigation into alleged corruption case involving Zee Group and Jindal?s steel company JSPL is not possible till the latter remains on the committee.

Since Delhi Police is answerable to the Home Ministry, the probe cannot be termed as a balanced and unbiased one, ZNL contended.

In its letter to Kumar, Zee News has also alleged that Jindal?s use of influence as a member of the Standing Committee is a clear violation of the provisions of the Constitution and best practices followed by the Parliament.
 
The letter goes on to add that Jindal?s influence indicates a clear conflict of interest as a result of which the Delhi Police is undertaking one-sided investigation and not paying any attention to various statements and representations made by Zee News.

NEW DELHI: Steel magnate and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal has filed a second first information report against Zee News Ltd.

According to Zee News, this FIR is a repeat performance of an earlier FIR by Jindal "in as much as it is full of similar falsities and over reach of extant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and taken on board in toto by Delhi Police without any effort to ascertain preliminary facts".

The second FIR, like the FIR on 2 October 2012 which was accepted by Delhi Police around midnight of a national holiday, was accepted late at night at 21:30 hrs.

Zee News Counsel Vijay Aggarwal said: ?This FIR is a counter offensive to investigation ordered by the court to be conducted by SHO Tughlak road. The contents of FIR are a figment of imagination, malafide and oppressive. Common citizen are not able to get FIR registered for their genuine grievances but this series of FIR on flimsy grounds show how Delhi Police is trying to please politicians?.

Zee News has now vowed to pursue every single legal and journalistic remedy to expose what it calls the "collusion between Naveen Jindal, MP, and Police / State Authorities". ZNL appeals to all opinion leaders to "intercede as they deem fit".

NEW DELHI: A Delhi Court has said that steel magnate Naveen Jindal?s alleged call to News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) chairman Justice J S Verma does not amount to an offence of criminal misconduct within the meaning of Section 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In the case filed by Zee News Ltd seeking intervention of the Central Bureau of Investigation against Jindal for invoking Justice Verma, Special CBI Judge Dharmesh Sharma said: ?At this stage, assuming for the sake of convenience that such act was indeed committed by accused no. 1 (Jindal), it could only be said to be in the realm of moral turpitude or unethical conduct that by no stretch of legal latitude could be said to constitute an offence of criminal misconduct within the meaning of Section 13 (1) (d) of the P. C. Act.?

?Again assuming for the sake of convenience the fact attributed to the accused (Jindal) could only be perceived as having been done by him in his capacity as a CEO of a private company to show his might upon a non-governmental organization (NBSA) that cannot constitute an offence within the meaning of Section 13 (1) (d) of the P. C. Act.?

Zee News counsel Vijay Aggarwal, however, said he would pursue the matter in the Delhi High Court: ?The court has expressed doubts whether calling NBSA, in view of it being a private body, is unethical, criminal or not. Also, in view of the investigation being ordered, it may bring disrepute to NBSA and might affect pendency of civil suit defamation before the High Court of Mumbai.?

On 14 January, the court had taken consideration in the complaint made by Zee News before CBI against Jindal. The case was filed after the CBI did not take action on a complaint made against Jindal after his reported call to Justice Verma before he could make a pronouncement based on Jindal?s complaint against Zee News. While dismissing Jindal?s case, Justice Verma had taken umbrage to the complainant?s conduct.

Zee News Editors Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia have alleged that they have been falsely implicated in a case relating to a series of exposes in the Coalgate scam involving Congress MP and industrialist Jindal. The two Zee editors wanted to expose Jindal?s template of silencing media coverage of Coalgate through a Rs One billion advertisement contract.

NEW DELHI: A second defamation case has been filed against Congress MP Naveen Jindal over allegations of extortion against editors of Zee News.

Even as a Delhi court has taken cognizance of a defamation complaint filed by editor of Zee News Sudhir Chaudhari against Congress MP Naveen Jindal and 16 officials of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), a business editor of the news channel Samir Ahluwalia has filed another defamation suit.

Metropolitan magistrate Jay Thareja has taken cognisance of the defamation complaint filed by Chaudhary.

"The cognisance of offence under section 499 (defamation) read with 34 (common intention) of the IPC is taken... Keeping in view the law laid down in the provisions of Cr PC and the judgment of the Delhi High Court, the examination of complainant and his witnesses is being proceeded with. Put up for examination of complainant and his witnesses on oath for January 7," Thareja said.

Ahluwalia has filed his defamation complaint in a different court, which will decide on 9 January whether to take cognisance of his plea.

Chaudhary, who was granted exemption from personal appearance in court earlier this week has alleged in his complaint that Jindal and JSPL officials had deliberately made false statements against him with an intention to tarnish his image.

He has said in his complaint that defamatory statements were made in an FIR lodged against him in the alleged case.

Chaudhary and Ahluwalia were arrested on 27 November on a complaint filed by Jindal?s firm alleging that they had demanded money as an advertising deal for not airing negative news reports about the firm in connection with coal block allocation scandal. Both of them were granted bail later.