New Delhi: Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak filed a complaint with the Delhi Police Tuesday against INDIA TV chairman Rajat Sharma, accusing him of using “abusive language” against her during a live discussion on the channel on 4 June.
In her complaint, filed in the Tughlaq Road Police Station in New Delhi, Nayak said that Sharma’s act amounted to “insulting her modesty”, which she also claimed at a press conference at the Congress headquarters.
Nayak said that Sharma was under the “wrong impression” that he “can get away just because he has the blessings of the establishment and Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.
“My parents, my in-laws, my children, everyone was watching that video. Lakhs and crores of Congress workers and supporters saw how you abused me on air. Just because I am working with integrity for my party. You did not just abuse me, but also started threatening me to not hold the press conference,” Nayak told reporters.
According to the complaint, Sharma allegedly abused Nayak during a live show at 11 am on 4 June.
In her complaint, she said, “During our brief discussion, I spoke about the results of the exit polls, which were widely and massively televised across the nation, and how the same did not reflect the reality of the election result. During my statement, I contradicted Mr Rajat Sharma’s comment on the tally of INC as to how it wouldn’t make any difference and how it is his journalistic duty to question the ones, who had propounded the results of the exit poll as fact, asking him to subject them to the same level of scrutiny as others, in the interest on fairness.”
The complaint further noted, “Upon hearing my comments, Mr. Rajat Sharma got defensive, and at which point, Mr. Rajat Sharma, who was visibly annoyed at my comments, resorted to using abusive language against me. A clip of the incident is available on my official ‘X’ handle.”
पहला वीडियो ‘X’ पर मेरे संज्ञान में लाया गया !
इसमें @RajatSharmaLive On Air मुझे एक भद्दी गाली देते हुए दिख रहे हैं !
मैंने Factcheck किया !
चैनल से इसी वीडियो का Raw Footage निकाला (दूसरा वीडियो)
पत्रकारिता का इससे गिरा हुआ स्तर क्या होगा ?
कोई जवाब है आपके पास रजत शर्मा ? pic.twitter.com/0GrQgYIPrl
— Dr. Ragini Nayak (@NayakRagini) June 10, 2024
In response to Nayak’s allegations, INDIA TV issued a statement, warning her, and Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, against holding the press conference. The Congress, however, went ahead with it.
In its “warning” to Nayak on social media, INDIA TV claimed that her allegations were “false and lack any basis”.
Warning to @NayakRagini @Pawankhera @Jairam_Ramesh
I am writing to you on behalf of India’s most respected journalist and television presenter Mr. Rajat Sharma, who has been in this profession for more than four decades and has a very high degree of credibility and reputation.…
— India TV (@indiatvnews) June 11, 2024
“They are malicious and defamatory and clearly constitute fake news. You have blatantly violated all limits of public decency by falsely accusing a personality of high repute. We are taking legal advice on this to take further action,” read the statement issued by INDIA TV legal head Ritika Talwar.
In her complaint, Nayak added that the “unwarranted use of abusive language on national television against a woman panelist (without any provocation) directly attracts the rigours of the Indian Penal Code”.
Nayak also told reporters that INDIA TV’s statement amounted to intimidation. She demanded that an FIR be lodged against Sharma under Section 294 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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