Legal Warning To Congress Leaders Over Their Posts Of Allegations Against Rajat Sharma

New Delhi: The warning was served to Congress leaders Pawan Khera, Jairam Ramesh, and Dr. Ragini Nayak by none other than Ritika Talwar, Legal Head of India TV, on behalf of the channel’s popular journalist and television presenter, Rajat Sharma.

The rather public notice, which was conducted on social media through Twitter, was in response to the Congress leaders’ recent posts on these platforms, levelling allegations of abusive language by Mr. Sharma. The charge was, however, rebutted upfront by Talwar in no uncertain words, where she affirmed the four-decade long credibility established by Sharma and his civilized conduct throughout the years. “We have seen your posts on social media where you have accused Mr. Sharma of using abusive language on air. The allegations made by you in your posts are absolutely false and lack any basis and foundation whatsoever. They are malicious and defamatory and clearly constitute fake news,” read Talwar’s message.

Further, it called the posts “blatantly violating all limits of public decency by falsely accusing a personality of high repute.” The leaders had posted against Mr. Sharma and are reportedly convening a press conference soon. Talwar issued a caution in no uncertain words: “We have come to know that you are trying to further compound the imperceivable by proposing a press conference and disseminating the same baseless, false and defamatory news once again. We warn you that you should desist from this.” She further repeated in the notice that Mr. Rajat Sharma has never used any kind of abusive language on air or off-air, and the abuse accusations were not only “non-existent and imaginary,” but also very defamatory in the present context. The notice further reads, “We reserve the right to take further legal action,” a warning likely to be pursued into escalated legal action.

The accusations and the stern warning thereafter have generated a lot of debate in political and media circles, continuing to bring to the fore the existence of cold rows between media personalities and political figures. No response has been made by the Congress leaders on the legal warning.

Rajat Sharma, with his anchoring style, has been known for his politeness and gentle way of asking tough questions to his guests. A respected face of Indian journalism, he has a viewership around the world which admires his cultivated and civilized style on and off camera.

As things continue to unfold, it is yet to be revealed how the parties concerned will manage the growing confrontation and what the following legal steps would be.

[This is a developing story. Stay tuned for further updates.]