A Kashmiri businessman, Peer Abdul Rashid of Alochi Bagh Srinagar has filed Rs 100-crores defamation case against Times Now for calling him a ‘dalal of Pakistan’ in a debate on the channel.Advocate Aamir Masoodi, son of the Rashid has filed the defamation notice against the Times Now channel on behalf of his father against the allegations leveled during the political debate on May 6 at 9:00 pm, during which his father was called as ‘dalal of Pakistan’, reveals a notice, a copy of which available with Kashmir New Service (KNS).Masoodi in the notice has said that his father’s image was maligned during the debate. “Without any reasonable clue or proved evidence, my father was called as dalal of Pakistan in the debate, which has brought his honor and dignity to disrepute,” the notice copy reads, adding that “as a consequence of which my father suffered in terms of irreparable loss, injury to his business and reputation. Besides a serious prejudice, you have caused a mental agony to my father.”
“Under such compelling circumstances your derogatory remarks to call upon my father as an ISI agent or a link of ISI is highly risky and could end his life. In other words you by calling my father as Pakistan like dalal, has exposed him to the extreme danger of losing his life and hence caused his family a great mental agony and exposure of losing their father; their only bread earner. My father as such is threatened to pursue his business freely on account of false, frivolous, concocted and fictitious allegations leveled against him in the debate on your channel,” he said. “Now on behalf of my father, I am authorised to ask to tender apology to my father on the same programme i.e, New Hour at 9:00 pm, within the next fifteen days of receiving this legal notice and also I am telling you to desist in future from highlighting the name of my father in such political debates and stop calling him Pakistan ke dalal, without any proven evidence or a fact,” the copy reads, adding that “also, I am asking you on behalf of my father to compensate in accordance with defamatory laws of this nation an amount of Rs one crore for exposing his life to high risk and loss of business and reputation.”Masoodi in a notice has asked Navika Kumar, Managing Editor, Politics, Times Now, “in case you fail to compensate or apologies to my father in the next fifteen days from the receiving this legal notice, my father shall be forced to proceed against you and your news channel at your own peril, in accordance with the defamatory laws and other relevant provisions in our constitution.” (KNS)