Zee denies targetting Dhoni in its coverage of IPL fixing scam

Zee Media Corporation has denied the allegations made by MS Dhoni in the Rs 100-crore lawsuit the Indian captain filed in the Madras High Court yesterday. The suit, which has also been filed against Zee News Editor and Business Head Sudhir Chaudary, IPS officer G Sampath Kumar (who initially probed the IPL betting scam) and News Nation network private limited, argues that the defendants had been carrying highly defamatory, scandalous and libellous false reports and statements with the objective of projecting Dhoni as an object of hate and ridicule to the general public. [caption id=“attachment_1439679” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Zee has refuted MS Dhoni’s claims. BCCI[/caption] In a statement, Zee has denied their news reports were aimed at maligning Dhoni and stated the company’s intent was only to highlight the corruption that is affecting India’s favourite sport. “The coverage carried out by the news channel is in the best tradition of credible journalism with the avowed objective to highlight issues that ultimately help cleanse the game of cricket,” the statement said. The focus of Dhoni’s lawsuit is the sting operation Zee conducted on Vindoo Dara Singh, who has been accused of helping former CSK official Gurunath Meiyappan bet on the IPL, as well as the interview it did with Sampath Kumar, who reportedly interrogated a bookie named Kitty as part of the investigation into the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. The channel maintains that its airing of the sting in particular was done after due diligence was carried out. “The news story put on air is based on the said sting operation featuring Shri Vindu Dara Singh and excerpts from the report filed by Justice Mudgal to the Honorable Supreme Court of India. The Justice Mudgal report findings have been widely reported by the print and electronic media. “The news channel conducted the sting operation based on the facts which were in the public domain since series of stories had already been published by various media organizations on the issue during the time period of 10th – 14th February, 2014.” Zee has already submitted the finding of its sting to the Supreme Court in an intervention application on 7 March, 2014. The Court said it would allow the submission and consider it in the Mudgal Committee report case.