NEW DELHI
In addition the authority has directed the news channel to run an apology between 8-9 pm, five times with a space of twelve minutes, saying, ‘India TV apologizes for the story run on Ms. Farhana Ali in December, 2008 since the same was a misrepresentation of facts. Any harm caused to Ms. Farhana Ali is regretted.”
The decision has been taken under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) J.S. Verma and other members which includes historian Ramachandra Guha, former Nasscom chief Kiran Karnik, sociologist Dipankar Gupta and economist and former undersecretary-general of the United Nations, Nitin Desai.
As per the press release issued by NBA, Farhana Ali, a writer, lecturer and policy analyst residing in USA, had issued a show cause notice on 18 December 2008 to India TV.
Ali had issued the notice on the ground that the channel had misused the interview given by her to Reuters by broadcasting it on India TV. The channel had picked the interview and aired it after dubbing it in Hindi. The channel had also downloaded her picture from the internet and used it in the story, giving the false impression that she had given the interview to India TV.
Further, India TV said in its story that Ali was a spy for the United States government and also exaggerated the statement made by Ali that portrayed her as pro-India and anti-Pakistan.
According to Ali this act of the channel had damaged her positioned within the US government and has further placed her life in jeopardy.
When contacted, a senior official of India TV said that the channel has written to NBA and would like to be heard on the matter. The channel has already apologised to Ali. This has been accepted by Ali, the official added.
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