On Monday, 1st April, the Bombay High Court instructed Republic TV and its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami to tone down the language used in its coverage related to industrialist Anil Ambani. The court said reporting news is fine and refused to issue any injunction against the channel, but added that using harsh and personal words is not acceptable.
However, justice Milind Jadhav clarified that he was not stopping the media house from carrying any news story on Anil Ambani and his companies.
Justice Milind Jadhav made it quite clear during the hearing of the case that “the media should not go below the belt.” He stated, “Flashy headlines and strong words can be wrong even if you are reporting an important matter. Do your job of reporting, but don’t use words that attack someone personally.”
The case originates from a defamation lawsuit filed by Anil Ambani. In this lawsuit, he claimed that the channel directly connected him with ongoing cases involving Reliance Communications, Reliance Home Finance, and Reliance Commercial Finance. Anil Ambani claimed that this was unfair to him because he had already resigned as a Non-Executive Director of Reliance Communications in November 2019 and was not associated with the other two firms either.
Anil Ambani’s side also claimed that terms such as “financial scam mastermind,” “cheat,” “money launderer,” and “fraud” were repeatedly used on the channel, along with his photo. Advocate Mayur Khandeparkar claimed that this was not a simple matter of reporting and seemed to be a targeted campaign that might harm his image.
Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the channel, said they were relying on the defence of fair comment. But the judge was still concerned about the tone and pointed out that such language would give a negative impression before any conclusion was reached.
Justice Jadhav also warned that if the channel did not consider this advice, the court would issue interim orders, citing a similar instance that was handled by the Delhi High Court in the past involving Shashi Tharoor. Justice Jadhav even questioned the usage of terms such as “the goose is cooked” and opined that such terms are inappropriate.
The channel’s lawyer assured the court that such terms would not be used again. The matter will now be heard on 16th April, when Republic TV is expected to file its reply.
