The Delhi High Court Thursday restricted ‘The Sunday Guardian’, a weekly newspaper, from republishing or recirculating the allegedly ‘defamatory’ article against NDTV television channel published Dec 5, 2010.
A bench of Justice Manmohan Singh directed M.J. Akbar, editor of ‘The Sunday Guardian’ and others against republishing or recirculating the article which was alleged to have been published to defame the New Delhi Television Ltd. (NDTV).
The bench said it restrained the defendants ‘…from (either directly or indirectly) republishing or re-circulating the article written on Dec 5, 2010, in any form or its internet website or in physical form of newspaper or in a news item of the recent date except the material which already stands published till date’.
The court said the only remedy, if any, can be claimed in the form of damages.
The court said: ‘It is seen from the record that the article complained of was published on Dec 5, 2010, and thus, it can be safely said whatever damage which has been alleged to have been caused has already been caused during the passage of the time when this article has remained under publication and the same shall be relevant for the purposes of computation of damages, if any, claimed by the plaintiff.’
The court’s direction came on a plea of NDTV claiming Rs.25 crore damages for defaming it by publishing the article.
The TV channel in its plea submitted that the alleged article was written and published with a view to defame it.
