Aamir, SRK, Salman's production houses approach court against 'irresponsible reporting' by Arnab Goswami & others

New Delhi: A civil suit was filed on October 12 before the Delhi High Court by four Bollywood industry associations and 34 Bollywood producers. The legal action has been taken against Republic TV, Arnab Goswami and Pradeep Bhandari (of Republic TV), Rahul Shivshankar, and Navika Kumar (of Times Now) and unknown defendants. Social media platforms have also been urged to refrain from making or publishing irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood.

Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment, Salman Khan Films, Aamir Khan Productions, Ajay Devgn Films, Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Farhan Akhtar's Excel Entertainment are among the studios that have filed the complaint.

The petition filed in the Delhi HC stated that "derogatory comments" against Bollywood celebrities must not be allowed and a restrain should be imposed on conducting media trials on them or interfering with the right to privacy of actors and others associated with the film industry.

The petition also stated that the "defendants abide by the provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994, and to withdraw, recall and take down all the defamatory content published by them against Bollywood".

This action has come in the aftermath of the media's sensational coverage of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. These news channels have been accused of using derogatory words for Bollywood such as "dirt, filth, scum, druggies." Expressions such as "it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to be cleaned", "all the perfumes of Arabia cannot take away the stench and the stink of this filth and scum of the underbelly of Bollywood" have also been condemned, as per a report by Bar & Bench.

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