26 oct 2012
New Delhi: Congress leader and steel tycoon Naveen Jindal
at a press conference on Thursday showed a video recording of meetings
with Zee TV executives and claimed this to be proof that they were
trying to extort money from him. Zee News has refuted the allegation.
Mr Jindal said the TV channel told his company's executives that if they did not spend Rs. 100 crore on advertising, the channel would run unfavourable stories about how his firm was allocated coal fields.
Mr Jindal says the extortion attempt was caught on a hidden camera; he released CDs of this footage to reporters. The 'reverse sting' was carried out between September 13 and 19 over four meetings in different locations in Delhi.
Mr Jindal's company Jindal Steel and Power Limited has also filed a police case against Zee, which is promoted by Subhash Chandra. "Broadcast licences are given for news, not for blackmail and extortion," Mr Jindal said.
The steel tycoon claimed that the Zee TV executives had asked for Rs. 20 crore over five years as advertisements, but then raised their demand to Rs. 100 crore for not running stories on allegations his firm is facing in the coal block allocation scam. The Comptroller and Auditor General has named Jindal Steel and Power Limited as one of the beneficiaries of the allocation that was done bypassing auctions.
Zee has refuted the charges. In a press release, Zee News said, "We see this as a deliberate attempt to malign and to defame us." Its executives also said that this was actually an attempt by Mr Jindal and JSPL to "buy them out".
"He chose to display an edited/doctored CD where only selected portions are shown. Mr. Jindal has a history of unfairly targeting those who dare to confront him with the truth. Attempts by media houses like Zee News to bring out the final truth in the Rs. 1.86 lakh crore Coalgate scam are being muzzled by Mr. Naveen Jindal by distorting the truth," the statement says. Zee's editor Sudhir Chaudhry also questioned the fact that Mr Jindal refused to be quizzed by the media at the press conference.
Mr Jindal says there is more "explosive" material with him against Zee.
The channel also claims that Mr Jindal manhandled some of its reporters when they asked him to comment on Coalgate allegations earlier.
In the midst of the press conference, there was some more drama when the family of a Right to Information activist from Chhattisgarh started shouting slogans against JSPL and Mr Jindal. JSPL's power plant and coal blocks are in Chhattisgarh.
Earlier this month, Justice M Katju, the chairmen of the Press Council of India, asked for an inquiry into Mr Jindal's allegations.
"It is alleged that they first telecast false news against Jindal as regards allocation of coal blocks and other issues, in order to injure and harm the reputation and business of Jindal, and when Jindal invited them for a discussion to tell them the correct facts Zee officials demanded 100 crore for publicising the version of Jindal," Justice Katju said in a letter to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA).
Naveen Jindal releases footage of 'sting' against Zee; claims extortion
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| Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India |
Still from the footage
Mr Jindal said the TV channel told his company's executives that if they did not spend Rs. 100 crore on advertising, the channel would run unfavourable stories about how his firm was allocated coal fields.
Mr Jindal says the extortion attempt was caught on a hidden camera; he released CDs of this footage to reporters. The 'reverse sting' was carried out between September 13 and 19 over four meetings in different locations in Delhi.
Mr Jindal's company Jindal Steel and Power Limited has also filed a police case against Zee, which is promoted by Subhash Chandra. "Broadcast licences are given for news, not for blackmail and extortion," Mr Jindal said.
The steel tycoon claimed that the Zee TV executives had asked for Rs. 20 crore over five years as advertisements, but then raised their demand to Rs. 100 crore for not running stories on allegations his firm is facing in the coal block allocation scam. The Comptroller and Auditor General has named Jindal Steel and Power Limited as one of the beneficiaries of the allocation that was done bypassing auctions.
Zee has refuted the charges. In a press release, Zee News said, "We see this as a deliberate attempt to malign and to defame us." Its executives also said that this was actually an attempt by Mr Jindal and JSPL to "buy them out".
"He chose to display an edited/doctored CD where only selected portions are shown. Mr. Jindal has a history of unfairly targeting those who dare to confront him with the truth. Attempts by media houses like Zee News to bring out the final truth in the Rs. 1.86 lakh crore Coalgate scam are being muzzled by Mr. Naveen Jindal by distorting the truth," the statement says. Zee's editor Sudhir Chaudhry also questioned the fact that Mr Jindal refused to be quizzed by the media at the press conference.
Mr Jindal says there is more "explosive" material with him against Zee.
The channel also claims that Mr Jindal manhandled some of its reporters when they asked him to comment on Coalgate allegations earlier.
In the midst of the press conference, there was some more drama when the family of a Right to Information activist from Chhattisgarh started shouting slogans against JSPL and Mr Jindal. JSPL's power plant and coal blocks are in Chhattisgarh.
Earlier this month, Justice M Katju, the chairmen of the Press Council of India, asked for an inquiry into Mr Jindal's allegations.
"It is alleged that they first telecast false news against Jindal as regards allocation of coal blocks and other issues, in order to injure and harm the reputation and business of Jindal, and when Jindal invited them for a discussion to tell them the correct facts Zee officials demanded 100 crore for publicising the version of Jindal," Justice Katju said in a letter to the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA).
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