The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has served a legal notice on Headlines Today asking it rebut and apologise to the party for airing fabricated and defamatory material in a news programme titled “Centre Stage – Akalis Shielding Drug Lords” on June 12.The legal notice, which was issued yesterday on behalf of SAD general secretary Maheshinder Singh Grewal, has made it clear to the Headlines Today management that in case it did not air the rebuttal conspicuously on prime time within three days of the receipt of the notice, the party would be constrained to initiate criminal as well as civil action for damages of Rs five crore against it.
The notice has been issued to Headlines Today group CEO Ashish Bagga and Editor Rahul Kanwal at The India Today Group mediaplex office in Film City, Noida and its Chandigarh based Correspondent Manaman Singh Chhinna by the law firm of Mr Harpreet Singh Brar.
The notice holds all three persons responsible for airing a false and fabricated report to defame the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and its leaders in the eyes of the general public. Referring to the wild allegations made by Mr Manaman Singh Chhinna, the SAD general secretary said the former made a statement to the effect “it is common knowledge that drug trade in Punjab has political backing” without quoting the source of his information. Saying that it amounted to sensational journalism, Mr Maheshinder Grewal said the Headlines Today correspondent also made unsubstantiated personal allegations against members of the SAD which are false, baseless and malicious in content.
Grewal said in the notice that it appeared that the Headlines Today team was bent on telecasting a false and malicious report. He said the extent of the conspiracy could be seen from the fact that a strip “Akalis shielding drug lords” was displayed on the screen with the ulterior motive of defaming the SAD even though no proof was presented to substantiate this wild allegation.The notice said Headlines Today did not stop at this alone. It said the channel even procured a bogus report to suggest that 73.5 per cent of youth in Punjab were addicted to drugs without indicating the sample size and manner of survey. It said channel Editor Rahul Kanwal even proclaimed that the incidents of drugs were highest in Punjab in comparison to other States without presenting any proof of the same. The notice also held Headlines Today CEO guilty of being part of the conspiracy as the owner/CEO is equally responsible under Section 501 IPC for the misadventures of his reporters.
Stating that Headlines Today had ridiculed the contribution of Punjab in national building and even brought disrepute to the entire youth of the State, Mr Grewal said such false propaganda had not only hurt the reputation and self respect of Punjabis in general but also members of the SAD in particular. He said this propaganda was opposite to the real facts with the truth being that the recovery of contraband drugs had been far greater than the recoveries made during previous governments.Giving his own example, Mr Grewal said he belonged to an akali family with his father Sardar Avtar Singh Grewal was a leading advocate who took keen interest in women education and even managed several educational institutes. The akali leader said he had devoted his entire life to the SAD and to the service of the people and had even served Punjab as a Cabinet minister and was now serving the State as Adviser to the Chief Minister.
Grewal said after Headlines Today telecast the false and fabricated programme the people of his area started looking down upon him and he suffered loss of reputation and was even subject to public ridicule. He said some of his friends and relatives even severed ties with him. He said only an immediate, conspicuous and unconditional apology on prime time could assuage the hurt and humiliation he had suffered or else he had given clear instructions to his advocate to initiate criminal as well as civil action for damages of Rs five crore against the management as well as concerned reporter of Headlines Today.