Delhi High Court Judge Recuses From Hearing Shehla Rashid's Plea Seeking Apology From Zee News, Sudhir Chaudhary

Justice Prathiba M Singh of Delhi High Court on Thursday recused from hearing a plea filed by JNU Scholar Shehla Rashid seeking unambiguous and unequivocal apology from Zee News and its then anchor Sudhir Chaudhary in relation to a programme aired by the news channel in November 2020.

Shehla Rashid has sought modification of an order passed by News Broadcasters and Digital Standards Authority (NBDSA) dated March 31, 2022 to the extent that the it refused to direct the broadcaster to air an apology, while ruling that the show lacked objectivity and impartiality. 

The matter was mentioned before Justice Singh by the counsel appearing for Zee News, seeking time to file response in the matter.

However, Justice Singh said the matter will go before some other bench.

Notice in the petition was issued in September last year. Response was sought from NBDSA, Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary within a period of six weeks.

NBDSA, vide the impugned order, had directed Zee News to remove the video of the impugned broadcast from their website, YouTube and all other links. 

Shehla Rashid had lodged a complaint with the NBDSA against the show aired on November 30, 2020 wherein her father had been interviewed making wild allegations against her, her sister and her mother. 

It had also been imputed that Shehla Rashid was involved in terror funding. It was further alleged that the anchor himself had asserted that Shehla was involved in anti-national activities. 

In an order dated March 31, 2022, NBDSA was of the view that the by allowing the interviewee i.e. the father of the complainant (Shehla Rashid) to air his allegations against the complainant, the channel had presented only one side of the story. 

In her plea before high court, Shehla Rashid has submitted that an unreasoned refusal to issue an apology to her is wholly arbitrary and unsustainable in law.

"The public functions performed by the press & media are recognised by the State which, consequently, accords various rights & privileges to them, one of which was the right of self- regulation of news channels by Respondent No. 1 of which Respondent No. 2-4 are parts of. The power of self-regulation was to maintain credibility of news media by ensuring that there were no Government shackles in performing its functions as the fourth pillar of democracy," the plea reads.

It adds, "The videos existing at present have been viewed by several people and has till date received more than 3800 reactions and has been shared by more than 500 people and continues to gather more views. Thus, merely taking down the videos will unfortunately not affect the impact that the broadcast had on the public nor remotely restore the dignity and reputation of the Petitioner which was damaged by the broadcast. Thus, an apology from the Respondent No.3-4 is essential to mitigate the damage caused to reputation of the Petitioner, which is manifestly caused by the violation of the public duty assumed by the Respondents."

Case Title: Shehla Rashid v. NBDSA & Ors.