Look what happened to Diana: In Bollywood case 2 channels told not to show defamatory content

New Delhi, Nov 09: The Delhi High Court has told two news channels that no defamatory content should be shown on their channels.

The observation was made by the court while hearing a petition filed by leading Bollywood filmmakers. The court also told Republic TV and Times Now that no defamatory content should also be posted on social media. Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra and Farhan Akhtar among others came together to file the petition against the media houses.

The petition was filed following the coverage in the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput's death. "Media can't run a parallel trial. You're a broadcaster show news. There is less news and more opinion," the court told the channels today while observing that things are being pre-judged.

"Bollywood celebrities are entitled to privacy. Look what happened in the case of Princess Diana. She died because she was being chased by the media. You can't just go on like this. The courts are the last ones to want to regulate," Justice Rajiv Shakdher said.

"Even cuss words are being used during live debates. Nobody is stopping from reporting but language and the manner has to be right," the court also observed.

When the court was asked by the counsel as to how does one define defamation here, the judge sought written responses in two weeks and also the recorded assurances by the channels to follow the Cable TV Act & Rules, and the Programme Code.