HC seeks affidavit from Co wanting to stand surety for Times Now

Hearing the plea of news channel Times Now to allow it to furnish corporate guarantee instead of bank guarantee for Rs 80 crore in a defamation suit, the Bombay High Court today sought an affidavit from the company wanting to give such an undertaking. “Let the company which wants to give corporate guarantee on behalf of the Channel file an affidavit on January 16,” a bench headed by Justice DK Deshmukh said after hearing a petition seeking modification of an earlier High Court order that asked the broadcaster to give Rs 80 crore bank guarantee. The petition was filed by Times Global Broadcasting Company, which runs Times Now news channel. The judges also asked the petitioner to identify the assets it proposed to place before the court in lieu of the bank guarantee amounting to Rs 80 crore. “The prothonotory of the court will not accept anything without inviting objections from the other side(respondent),” they said. [caption id=“attachment_180371” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Michael Siegel, WikimediaCommons.”]  [/caption] A Pune court had ordered the news channel to pay Rs 100 crore as damages to former Supreme Court judge PB Sawant for defaming him. The channel had challenged the order in the high court which asked it to deposit Rs 20 crore and furnish a bank guarantee for the balance amount. The channel prayed that instead of furnishing bank guarantee of Rs 80 crore, the court may permit Bennet Coleman and Co Ltd to give a corporate guarantee on their behalf. The channel said it was facing difficulty in procuring a bank guarantee of Rs 80 crore as the company is required to provide 75 per cent to 100 per cent margin and commission to the banks to avail this facility. “It would be unviable for the applicant (Times Now) to incur such high costs and to continue to run its operations effectively until the matter is finally disposed of,” it said. Justice Sawant had sued the channel for displaying his photo wrongly during telecast of a bulletin on September 10, 2008 on a Provident Fund scam allegedly involving a Calcutta High Court judge. The report had showed Justice Sawant’s photograph in place of the high court judge. PTI