Times Now Undertakes To Not Publish Anything Defamatory Against Hindi Film Industry; Settles Suit Filed By Bollywood Houses

Undertaking not to air or publish anything defamatory against the Hindi film industry, Times Now has entered into a settlement with the Producers Guild of India in the civil suit filed by major Bollywood production houses in the Delhi High Court.

In October 2020, thirty four big production houses and four major associations of the Hindi film industry had filed the civil suit(CS OS No.337/2020) against news channels Times Now and Republic TV aggrieved with their "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood members" during the coverage of Sushant Singh Rajput case.

The suit sought to restrain news anchors Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari of Republic TV, Navika Kumar and Rahul Shivshankar of Times Now from making scandalous remarks against film fraternity.

Yesterday, Times Now and Producers Guild of India issued a joint statement that they have entered into a settlement in the suit.

"As per the consent terms agreed, TIMES NOW reaffirms its commitment to abide by the Programme Code under the Cable TV Network Regulation Aact 1994 and the Cable TV Network Regulation Rules 1994 and undertakes not to publish or air anything that is defamatory to the Plaintiffs(the Hindi Film industry) on the TIMES NOW Channel", the statement read.

"With the matter settled, the plaintiffs and The Times Group can look forward to building on their historically cordial relationship," the statement added.

The statement further stated that the application for settlement along with the consent terms are pending for acceptance before the Delhi High Court.

While issuing notice, the Delhi High Court had asked Times Now and Republic TV to strictly follow the Programme Code with respect to their content.

The plaintiffs include the production houses of Bollywood big names Aamir Khan, Sharukh Khan(Red Chillies), Salmaan Khan, Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor and major production houses such as Yashraj Films, Dharma Productions (of Karan Johar), Nadiadwala, Excel, Vidhu Vinod Chopra films, Vishal Bharadwaj, Reliance Big etc.

As per the plaint, the channels have been using highly derogatory words and expressions for Bollywood such as "dirt", "filth", "scum", "druggies" and expressions such as "it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to be cleaned", "all the perfumes of Arabia cannot take away the stench and the stink of this filth and scum of the underbelly of Bollywood", "This is the dirtiest industry in the country", and "cocaine and LSD drenched Bollywood".

The plaintiffs said that they were not seeking a "blanket gag order" against media reportage of the investigation into the death of Rajput. "The plaintiffs are merely seeking perpetual and mandatory injunction against the Defendants from carrying on reportage and publication of material that violates applicable laws."