Reliance Group sues NDTV for Rs 10,000 CR over Rafale coverage

NDTV has been sued for Rs 10,000 crore by Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group in an Ahmedabad-based court for its reportage on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

According to an article on the news channel’s website, the hearing has been listed for October 26. “NDTV will argue that the charges of defamation are nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt by Anil Ambani’s group to suppress the facts and prevent the media from doing its job—asking questions about a defence deal and seeking answers that are very much in public interest.”

As the Rafale deal has been gaining public prominence with each passing day, the article states that “a larger news story in India” is that “the Reliance group has been on a notice-serving spree.” “To sue a news company for 10,000 crores in a court in Gujarat on false and frivolous charges, ignoring facts that are widely reported everywhere and not just by NDTV, can only be interpreted as an unsophisticated warning to the media to stop doing its job.”

The lawsuit was filed against NDTV’s weekly show “Truth vs Hype” which aired on September 29. “Top executives of Reliance ignored repeated, multiple and written requests to appear on the show or comment on what is being widely discussed not just in India but in France as well—whether Anil Ambani’s Reliance was transparently chosen as the partner for Dassault in a deal that saw India buying 36 fighter jets.”

“NDTV outright rejects any charges of defamation and will present material in court to support its case. As a news organisation, we are committed to independent and fair journalism that uncovers the truth.”