TMC MP Mahua Moitra granted bail in defamation case filed by Zee Media

New Delhi, Dec 17: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra in a criminal defamation case filed by Zee Media Corporation Ltd against her.

Chief Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja granted relief to the politician on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 after she appeared before the court in pursuance of the summons issued against her earlier and moved an application seeking relief.

After getting the bail, the counsel for Moitra argued for her discharge in the case, saying "prima facie" there was no case against her. Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, the counsel for Zee Media, opposed Moitra's discharge plea on the ground that there was no specific provision of law for the same.

During the proceedings, the court also asked whether there was possibility of settlement between the parties. The suggestion was, however, denied by Moitra who said they had a "substantive" case separately going on in another court.

Zee News filed a defamation complaint against Moitra for allegedly making statements against the channel to the media. The alleged defamatory statements against the channel were made by the MP while she was speaking to reporters on allegations against her.

Prior to that, Moitra had filed a criminal defamation complaint against Zee News and its editor-in-chief, Sudhir Chaudhary, in connection with a show aired by it on one of her speeches delivered in Parliament. The court had on November 4 summoned the accused in the case filed by the politician.