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NEW
DELHI:Denying charges of any collusion with prosecution counsel,
senior advocate RK Anand said today that he had served legal
notice seeking Rs 500 million as damages from NDTV, accusing
the news channel of defaming him by telecasting a sting operation
relating to the sensational BMW case.
"NDTV
should apologize for misrepresentation of facts," he
said in a statement.
Meanwhile,
NDTV has handed over all unedited footage to the trial court
as well as to the Delhi High Court and "we will follow
the legal process in this case," said Barkha Dutt, managing
editor of the channel.
A
former Member of Parliament, Anand is defending the main accused
Sanjeev Nanda, grandson of former Navy Chief SM Nanda.
He
and senior advocate IU Khan, now dropped as Special Public
Prosecutor, were shown in the sting operation as purportedly
trying to influence Sunil Kulkarni, a witness in the case.
Demanding
apology for "misrepresentation" of facts, Anand
said "I regretfully state that NDTV has put its reputation
at stake by relying upon a person like Sunil Kulkarni, whose
character and intentions have been doubted not just by media,
courts and police but by the NDTV itself.
No
money has been paid or any attempt is made to influence any
of the witnesses. I am made to pay the price of my background
and status. This is most unfortunate and aimed at influencing
the courts of law by a side and motivated trial in the media,"
the lawyer said.
Dismissing Anand's allegations, Dutt said "We have clarified
already on our channel that not a single paisa has been paid
to Kulkarni nor did he asked for any money, car, hotel and
other expenses."
Dutt said the editorial control of the story including the
scripting, presentation and the angles of discussion have
been NDTV's editorial decision and not Kulkarni's. She termed
Anand's allegation that NDTV had transferred the powers of
journalism to Kulkarni as "baseless".
On the contrary, Kulkarni despite having given consent earlier
had asked NDTV not to broadcast the tapes. "We disregarded
this in the interest of justice. While NDTV cannot vouch for
the integrity of Kulkarni as a witness, it did not alter the
larger "alarming" questions raised about the role
of the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer, she said.
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