Zee News told to reply to Shehla Rashid’s petition demanding ‘unequivocal apology’

The Delhi High Court has told Zee News to respond to a petition filed by Shehla Rashid demanding that the TV news channel air an “unequivocal apology” to her.

Shehla said the channel must air the apology on a primetime show to “mitigate damage and prejudice caused to her dignity”, Bar and Bench reported.

In March, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority found the Zee News show on Shehla “violative of the code of ethics and broadcasting standards and guidelines relating to impartiality and objectivity in reporting”, and directed the TV channel to take down it.

The show aired on November 30, 2020. It featured an interview with Shehla's father, from whom she is estranged, who alleged the former student leader was involved in “terror funding” and “wrong and unlawful activities”.

As Newslaundry reported at the time, Shehla's father faced charges of domestic violence at the time which he denied these on the show. The channel, on its part, did not bother to reach out to Shehla for her side.

The NBDA said the TV channel had only presented only one side of the story: “Not only had the broadcaster failed to approach the complainant for her version, prior to telecasting the impugned programme but by making only a fleeting reference to her denial of the allegations, the broadcaster had also failed to adequately present her version.”

The broadcast was accordingly taken down, but Shehla's high court petition seeks a modification of the NBDA order.