Teacher files defamation against channel for fake sting

Teacher files defamation against channel for fake sting

NEW DELHI: Even as a Delhi Metropolitan Court granted bail to Live India reporter Prakash Singh and co-accused Virender Arora, Delhi school teacher Uma Khurana who was made the victim of a fake sting two months earlier filed a criminal defamation case against the television channel.

The sting operation aired on 30 August showed the teacher running an alleged prostitution and resulted in widespread violence in the Darya Ganj in central Delhi where the school where she was teaching is located.

In her criminal defamation case before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Sanjay Jindal against the channel, its CEO Sudhir Chaudhary and accused reporter Prakash Singh, the teacher has said she had been removed from service and subjected to different kinds of mental agony, strain, harassment, humiliation and earned a bad name in the eyes of the public and society.

Earlier, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Agarwal granted bail to the reporter and businessman Arora.

Forty-one year old Khurana had been discharged by Aggarwal earlier this week and fixed 15 November for argument on charges against the other three accused -- TV reporters Prakash Singh and Rashmi Singh, and Arora. The police have charged the trio for criminal conspiracy for using forged electronic record.

A week after the telecast, it was discovered that the operation was a hoax and the girl 'victim' shown in the TV sting was, in fact, TV journalist Rashmi Singh. Khurana was granted bail on 11 September.