NEW DELHI: Taking cognizance of a defamation complaint against Congress MP Naveen Jindal and others, a Delhi court today asked the Delhi Police to probe the role of Jindal and 16 other officials of his firm Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) who are named in the complaint filed by Chaudhary.

Metropolitan Magistrate Jay Thareja asked the Station House Officer of the Tughlak Road in south Delhi to seize the minutes of meetings and other documents of Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) regarding termination of the membership of Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary.

The Police have been asked to give a report within a month and the case has been listed for further hearing on 15 February.

Chaudhary had alleged that "false allegations" were leveled against him to tarnish his image.

"Keeping in view the fact that 15 out of 17 accused are residing outside the territorial jurisdiction of this court - PS Tuglak Road - and the law laid down in section 202 of the CrPC, it is directed that SHO, PS Tuglak Road (or his deputy) shall conduct an investigation qua the allegations made in the complaint," the court said.

It also said the SHO would investigate the role of each of the respondents relating to the two cause of actions described in the complaint.

Chaudhary, who filed his complaint through Zee News Ltd. counsel Vijay Aggarwal, had earlier said Jindal and JSPL officials had made "deliberately false" statements and registered a "false case" against him in the alleged Rs One billion extortion bid case and defamed him by leveling allegations against him at a press conference here.

?The Crime Branch of Delhi Police was doing one-sided investigation,? said Vijay Aggarwal. "Here on, the investigation will be under direction of the court and seizure of documents too,? he added, saying ?now truth will come out.?

The court, in its order, directed the police to "seize the relevant pages of the minute book of JSPL covering the decisions of the management of JSPL referred in the letter dated 18 November 2012 issued by the Company Secretary of JSPL."

It also asked the police to seize the video recording of the press conference "allegedly held on 25 October 2012" by Jindal and others either from their office or from any TV news channel.

The magistrate also clarified that his order "shall not restrict the SHO, PS Tuglak Road, from conducting a full and through investigation" in the matter.

Chaudhary had earlier told the court that "in September 2012, a false case was registered against me at the behest of the respondents (Jindal and others) and they defamed me at different steps for which I have filed the present complaint."

In his statement, Chaudhary had said Jindal, along with others, had claimed in the press conference that BEA had removed him from the post of treasurer after considering his statement whereas he has never attended any such meeting.

Editor Samir Ahluwalia had also filed a separate criminal defamation complaint against Jindal and others in a court here.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued directions to the investigating officer to acquire the phone records of steel magnate Naveen Jindal, a few of his relatives and some Jindal Steel officials for the period from September to November 2012 and preserve them.

The directions were issued on applications by Zee News Limited under Section 156(3) IPC on behalf of its chairman Subhash Chandra
and its Editor Sudhir Chaudhary.

Zee News counsel Vijay Aggarwal was directed by the Court to file on the next date of hearing, 22 January, the mobile numbers of Naveen Jindal, his uncle Sitaram Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal, Ravi Muthreja, Sushil Maroo, Vivek Mittal and Rajeev Bhaduria.

The applications by ZNL had also sought further examining Sitaram Jindal, Prithvi Jindal and Naveen Jindal.

Chaudhary?s application also wanted further examination of Muthreja, Maroo, Mittal and Bhaduria.

Zee News had alleged that investigations into the case against its editors over allegations of attempt to extort money from Jindal Steel were "one-sided". It had demanded JSPL promoter Naveen Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal and uncle Sitaram Jindal be interrogated.

ZNL?s counsel Vijay Aggarwal had moved an application alleging that the Delhi Police conducted a "one-sided investigation" into Jindal Steel?s allegation that Chaudhary and Zee News Business Editor Samir Alhuwalia had sought to extort money in exchange for not covering allegations of wrong doing by Jindals in the coal mines allocation scam.

The Zee News counsel had also filed an application pleading for the court "to monitor the investigation as Delhi Police is focusing solely on the false complaint by Naveen Jindal".

The news channel had further demanded that all call records of all the phones used by Jindal and his relatives to contact the Zee News non-executive chairman should be seized.

Zee News? Sudhir Chaudhury and Samir Alhuwalia were arrested in November following a complaint by Jindal Steel alleging they had made a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) extortion bid but were later released on bail.