In March 2024, DD National aired the premiere of India in Motion, a documentary series highlighting the Modi government’s work in the roads, railways and aviation sectors, anchored by celebrity travel influencer Kamiya Jani. Within hours, the same episodes appeared on private YouTube channels – setting off a chain of internal objections, contract violations and eventually, an unusual settlement by Prasar Bharati.

At the centre of it all was a Rs 6.09-crore contract, two media companies, Kamiya Jani’s husband Sammar Verma, and a set of actions that raise questions about how India’s state broadcaster manages its relationships with private production houses. 

The deeper you dig, the stranger the project looks.

First, the work order was awarded to one production company, Softline Studio Services Limited, but was executed by entities linked to another media firm called the Fork Media Group which Verma is the director and CEO of. This is despite the broadcaster’s policy and contract norms barring reassignment of production.

Second, Fork Media channels Curly Tales, founded by Kamiya Jani, and Mashable India, later republished the content. This too was in violation of copyright and third-party norms, as noted by the broadcaster itself.

Third, and the most bizarre, the paperwork meant to govern all this was signed months after the violations.

In fact, the completion of work order letter, the agreement, as well as the indemnity bond were all signed the same day, May 17, 2024. This was months after the videos were published and months after a seven-member selection panel had picked Softline to do the job after a series of meetings and presentations.