New Delhi, Oct 25: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd chairman Naveen Jindal Thursday said his company has carried out what it called "a sting" on the editors of Zee News and Zee Business channels to expose that the group was demanding Rs 100 crore ad for not telecasting "negative" stories about the Jindal group's role in the Coalgate scam.
At a noisy press conference, where an RTI activist Ramesh Chandra Agrawal on a wheelchair carried out his own briefing to mediapersons, Jindal showed on a widescreen TV the "sting video" showing Jindal group officials speaking to Sudhir Chaudhary, editor, Zee News and Sameer Ahluwalia, editor, Zee Business about a "deal" for showing Jindal group in a favourable light.
Jindal said, he had made a formal police complaint against Zee News and Zee Business for demanding Rs.100 crore worth of advertisements in lieu of dropping negative stories.
"Sudhir Chaudhary, editor of the group, told our team they will continue to defame us if we did not agree to pay Rs.20 crore per year worth advertisements," Jindal, a Congress MP, said at a press conference here.
"The initial demand of Rs.20 crore then went up to Rs.100 crore," Jindal said.
Jindal Steel registered the first information report (FIR) with police Oct 2.
He said the media group had shown some stories on their channels against the steel group after which a team from Jindal Steels started talking to the channels.
Jindal also distributed the "sting" CD showing Chaudhary making the demand.
Jindal said his company has been in business for 40 years and had never received a blackmail threat like this.
"We decided not to succumb to the blackmail," said Jindal.
Zee News Ltd in a press release in the evening refuted Naveen Jindal's charges and alleged that Jindal group team "offered an advertising deal of s 100 crore to somehow stog the coverage on Coalgate scam on air."
"We see this as a deliberate attempt to malign and to defame us", said Chaudhary and Ahluwalia in a signed press statement.
The editors alleged that "to suppress the coverage that Zee News was telecasting on Coalgate, Corporate Communications team from JSPL first tried to bribe Samir Ahluwalia with Rs 25 cr, which he declined straightway. This was an offer from JSPL to stop the coverage of Coalgate scam.
"Undeterred the JSPL team offered Zee News and Zee Business and advertising deal of Rs.100 crore, to somehow stop the coverage on air."
The editors admitted that "In pursuit of seeking truth in the Coalgate scam, we have had several interactions with Jindal and with his officials. He chose to display an edited/ doctored CD where only selected portions are shown."
"Clearly, we see this as an attempt to prejudice and defame us and to overreach the investigation in this regard", the editors alleged.
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