Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?
Three ex-cops, including former ACP S S Rathi, serving life term in the 1997 Connaught Place (CP) shootout case, have moved Delhi High Court for enhancement of damages awarded to them by a lower court for harm caused to their reputation due to defamatory content on a TV channel.
The High Court today issued notice to the TV channel and its show's producer-cum-director, who have been directed to pay Rs 20 lakh compensation to the ex-cops, and sought their replies on the plea of two of the officers, Rathi and Ashok Rana. The plea of the third officer, Anil Kumar, was not listed before the court.
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw also took up the plea filed by the TV show's producer who has sought stay of lower court's January 23 order as per which he has to pay Rs five lakh to Rathi.
The judge refused to stay the January 23 order today, but said that subject to the producer depositing in high court, in six weeks, his share (Rs five lakh) of the damages to be paid, the lower court's decision against him would be put on hold.
The high court, however, made it clear that if stay is granted in favour of the producer, it would not result in a similar relief for the channel and listed the matter before the Joint Registrar on July 18.
The lower court had awarded Rs 10 lakh to Rathi and Rs five lakh each to the other two officers.
While Rathi had sought damages of Rs 15 lakh, the other two had sought Rs 10 lakh each.
All of them, in their pleas filed through advocate Suraj Rathi, have sought enhancement of their compensation by another Rs five lakh as well as 12 per cent interest on the amount.
The lower court in its order had said that under the auspices of proclaiming oneself to be an agency aimed at working towards public welfare and good faith, the channel, the show and its producer made a "mockery of the plaintiffs' (ex-police officials) reputations indiscriminately".
The three ex-cops in their pleas before the lower court
had said it was shown during in the show that they had murdered innocent citizens in a cold-blooded manner simply because they (policemen) wanted a promotion and the episode had cast them as brutal and murderous persons.
They had alleged in their suits that the media house and producer had aired the docudrama on the CP shootout by allegedly twisting and distorting facts and causing damage to their reputation.
The channel and others had said in their defence that they did not intend to cause any prejudice against the policemen and their sole aim was to create awareness of the actual incidents in the minds of public.
The lower court had said that the telecast had brought a lifetime of shame and humiliation to the plaintiffs and it has deeply affected their family and friends.
Rathi and nine other policemen were sentenced to life term for indiscriminately firing and killing businessmen Pradeep Goel and Jagjit Singh without any provocation near Statesman House building at Connaught Place on March 31, 1997.
