Court dismisses Zee Editors bail plea in jindal group extortion case

New Delhi: The bail pleas of two Zee News channel editors, arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs 100 crore from a Congress MP Naveen Jindal’s group, were dismissed by a Delhi court on Monday.

“Investigation is at a preliminary stage and there is no change of facts and circumstances since November 28 and the bail application had been dismissed by the duty magistrate earlier on November 28….and no fresh ground have come up to release them on bail. Hence, in my considered opinion, the bail (plea) is dismissed,” the court said.

“The dismissal of bail application does preclude the accused from moving successive bail applications,” it added.

During the hearing on the bail applications, Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan argued that the accused persons have no right to move a fresh bail plea as their similar applications had been dismissed by a magistrate on November 28 when they were first remanded in police custody for two days.

Advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Zee editors, vehemently opposed the prosecutor’s arguments saying there is absolutely no embargo that stops her from seeking bail for her clients under any provisions of the CrPC.

“I have full right to move court for bail as the law is bail not jail,” she said adding the agency is doing an “absurd” job by opposing the bail on such grounds.

She said, “The CAG report which was aired by Zee news was a constitutional body report tabled in the Parliament. As a channel editor of Zee group, it was my client’s responsibility to put forth the truth.”

John said that the editors had decided to run news showing Jindal’s firm’s alleged involvement in the allocation of coal blocks only as per the findings of the CAG report.

“As a journalist, it was my editor’s right to show the corruption, was it a police right to register an FIR against them?,” she asked.

Seeking bail for the two editors, the counsel said they have been booked for offences, which carry a maximum jail term of one and a half year.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who appeared for Jindal group, told the court that the Zee Group editors had charged Rs 25 crore per annum from the Jindal firm for advertisement, where as officially they take Rs 2.5 Crore per year for the same.

In a retaliatory move, Zee News had last month sent a Rs 150 crore defamation notice to the Congress MP, who too had filed a Rs 200 crore case against the media conglomerate claiming the TV channel had tried to extort money from his company.
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