Bollywood producers, filmmakers move court against Arnab Goswami, Navika Kumar for 'derogatory reporting'

Leading Bollywood filmmakers and producers have moved the Delhi High Court against “irresponsible and derogatory reporting by certain media houses” in the midst of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

The suit mentions, “Republic TV, Mr Arnab Goswami and Mr Pradeep Bhandari of Republic TV, Times Now, Mr Rahul Shivshankar and Ms Navika Kumar of Times Now, and unknown defendants as well as social media platforms.”

The complaint also mentions the use of maligning terms such as “dirt”, “filth”, “scum” and “druggies” in the reporting of the case, as well as phrases like, “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”; “This is the dirtiest industry in the country”; and “Cocaine and LSD-drenched Bollywood”.

The media scrutiny of Bollywood and the Hindi film industry has been ongoing ever since the case of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death came into the public domain. The NCB has so far interrogated actors like Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor among others. The media trial of Rhea Chakraborty has also dragged the film industry into its coverage.

[BREAKING] Suit has been filed before Delhi High Court by four Bollywood industry Assns & 34 leading Bollywood producers AGAINST

Republic TV
Arnab Goswami
Pradeep Bhandari
Times Now
Rahul Shivshankar
Navika Kumar @navikakumar @pradip103 @RShivshankar #ArnabGoswami pic.twitter.com/NXAP4w1Uvp

— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) October 12, 2020

The lawsuit includes several big names from the industry. Here is the full list of Plantiffs:

The Producers Guild of India The Cine & TV Artiste Association The Film and TV Producers Council Screenwriters Association Aamir Khan Productions Ad-Labs Films Ajay Devgn Fflims Andolan Films Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network Arbaaz Khan Productions Ashutosh Gowarikaer Productions BSK Network and Entertainment Cape of Good Films Clean Slate Filmz Dharma Productions Emmay Entertainment & Motion Pictures Excel Entertainment Filmkraft Productions Hope Production Kabir Khan Films Luv Films Macguffin Pictures Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment One India Stories R.S. Entertainment Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures Red Chillies Entertainment Reliance Big Entertainment Reel Life Productions Rohit Shetty Pictures Roy Kapur Productions Salman Khan Ventures Sohail Khan Productions Sikhya Entertianment Tiger Baby Digital Vinod Chopra Films Vishal Bhardwaj Film YashRaj Films

The case has been filed by DSK Legal on behalf of the Plaintiffs.