Censorship – News Media/Documentaries

In a rare instance of one media house going to court to restrict the press freedom of another, the Dainik Bhaskar group on Thursday obtained an ex-parte order from the Delhi high court restraining Cobrapost from releasing an incriminating documentary showing how Dainik Bhaskar and around two dozen of the country’s leading media houses had apparently agreed to an undercover reporter’s business proposal offering money for news coverage designed to polarise voters in favour of Hindutva.

The web portal, which had scheduled the release of its investigation at a press conference for 3 pm on Friday, May 25 was served the order issued by Justice Valmiki J. Mehta on Thursday evening. Cobrapost was also restrained from releasing the contents of an email it had sent to the Bhaskar group on May 10, 2018 “and other related telecommunications”. Cobrapost editor Aniruddha Bahal told The Wire that the email referred to was the detailed questionnaire  sent to Dainik Bhaskar seeking their response to various statements its senior management officials had made to the portal’s undercover reporter.