Court directs Bloomberg to take down ‘defamatory’ article against Zee

PTI, Mar 2, 2024, 9:01 AM IST

New Delhi: A court here directed online media platform The Bloomberg on Friday to take down an allegedly defamatory news article against Zee Entertainment.

Additional District Judge Harjyot Singh Bhalla was hearing the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s plea against two private limited companies that operate and manage The Bloomberg portal for allegedly publishing a defamatory article against it on February 21.

“The said article is defamatory qua the plaintiff (Zee) and has been published in order to malign and defame the plaintiff, with a pre-meditated and malafide intention,” the plea said.

Taking note of the evidence before it, the court said Zee had established a “prima facie case for passing ad-interim ex-parte orders of injunction”.

It said the balance of convenience is in Zee’s favour and irreparable loss and injury might be caused to the company if the injunction was not granted.

“In view thereof, defendant no.1 and defendant no.2 (the companies operating and managing The Bloomberg) are directed to take down the article dated February 21, 2024 from the online platform within one week of the receipt of this order,” the court said.

“The defendants are further restrained from posting, circulating or publishing the aforesaid article in respect of the plaintiff on any online or offline platform till the next date of hearing,” it added.

The other defendants in the case include the authors and researchers of the article.