By TCN News,
New Delhi: Popular Front of India (PFI) has filed complaint against 13 newspapers and TV channels before the Press Council of India. PFI has approached the regulatory body against certain newspapers and channels “for publishing/telecasting defamatory news about the organization,” Mr. K.M. Shareef, General Secretary of PFI said on Sunday.
PFI had earlier sent legal notices to the periodicals and channels, “but they failed to respond positively,” said Shareef. The periodicals and news channels against whom the complaint has been filed are: Dainik Jagran (Hindi daily), Hindustan Times, The Asian Age, IBN-7 Hindi News Channel, Deccan Chronicle (English Daily), Times Now English TV Channel, Nav Bharat Times (Hindi Daily), The Inquilab Urdu Daily, The New Indian Express English Daily, The Sunday Guardian English weekly and The Pioneer English Daily. Shareef said these media houses “have published / telecasted news that were baseless and damaging to Popular Front of India.”
“As a genuine approach, we directly met some of the newspaper officials in their office itself and wrote letters to them. We explained the factual side of the allegation leveled against us and requested the withdrawal of the news with an apology. But unfortunately these errant newspapers and channels were not ready to stop slinging mud on our organization. Instead, a few of them have continued to attack our organization. We were compelled to approach Press Council of India because they have even ignored the legal notice that followed our requests for correction”, Mr. Shareef added.
The complaints were filed before the Press Council of India, through Supreme Court advocates Mr. Bahar U Burqi and Maroof Ahmed.
Mr. Shareef also informed that in Tamil Nadu complaints were filed by Popular Front, Madurai District before the Commissioner of Police to register the case against The New Indian Express English daily, Malai Murasu, Tamil Murasu and Dinakaran Tamil Dailies for spreading false news targeting the Muslim community, in connection with the recent low-intensity cycle blast in Madurai.