JOIN USThe National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) has disposed of a complaint filed by former Congress MP Naveen Jindal against Zee Media Group, its chairman Subhash Chandra and other office bearers of the news channel without going into the merits of the case.
In his complaint, Jindal had accused the Zee Group and its key office bearers, including Chandra, of airing “false and misleading” programmes against him “to ensure his defeat” in the 2014 Lok Sabha election as he had not succumbed to their bid to extort Rs 100 crore from him. Chandra was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana last year.
Concluding the hearing of the case, the NBSA decided not to go into Jindal’s complaint any further and “treat the matter as closed for the present” as the case was pending before various courts.
The NBSA is a self-regulatory body of news broadcasters.
“Any enquiry by the NBSA into any issue or factual question resulting in a finding of the NBSA may lead to a situation of conflict/divergence with any future findings by a court/other authority in the pending proceedings,” Justice (Retd)
R V Raveendran, NBSA chairperson, noted in his order.
“The NBSA waited for a considerable time in pronouncing upon the matter. But, the parties have not reported about any decision/disposal of the pending court matters. Therefore, no purpose would be served by keeping this matter pending any further,” the NBSA chairperson added, disposing of the complaint.
Raveendran, however, said that Jindal will have the liberty to revive his complaint, if necessary, on the conclusion of the court proceedings.