The Supreme Court on Friday granted Zee News editor Rajnish Ahuja protection from arrest in connection with the First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against him for disseminating a false news report alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condoned the recent murder of a man in Udaipur.
The Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala issued a notice in the plea filed by the Editor and directed the Registry to tag it with the petition filed by anchor Rohit Ranjan.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave appeared before the Court and told them that police had registered FIRs against his client in Raipur, Chattisgarh, and Sikar, Rajasthan.
The channel ran a news programme claiming that Rahul Gandhi had said that tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teji should be forgiven for the murder in Udaipur. In fact, Gandhi was referring to those who sabotaged his office in Wayanad, Kerala, not the Udaipur killer.
The channel later issued an apology. Last month, the Court ordered that no coercive action be taken against Rohit Ranjan, the anchor of the telecast in question, in relation to cases filed against him in multiple jurisdictions.The court has noted that the investigation into the first FIR filed in Bani Park, District Jaipur, Rajasthan will continue.
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