Mumbai: The Producers Guild of India has announced that it has settled the civil suit filed against Times Now over alleged "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks" against the film industry.
According to a joint statement from the Guild and Times Now shared on social media, the channel has agreed to abide by provisions of the Programme Code under the Cable TV Networks Rules.
Four film industry bodies and 34 producers had filed a plea in Delhi high court last year seeking to restrain Republic TV and Times Now from making allegedly defamatory remarks against the Hindi film industry and conducting media trials against its members on various issues following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The lawsuit by four Bollywood industry associations and thirty-four leading producers, including those owned by Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Ajay Devgan, Rohit Shetty, Anil Kapoor, Yash Raj Films and R S Entertainment, had sought that the channels be restrained from interfering with the right to privacy of persons associated with the industry. The associations included the Producers Guild of India, Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), Screenwriters Association (SWA), and Cine and TV Artist's Association (CINTAA).
Joint Statement by Producers Guild of India and Times Network pic.twitter.com/gksa7LGmMI
— Producers Guild of India (@producers_guild) June 22, 2021
"The Plaintiffs and Times Now are pleased to confirm that they have settled the matter, and the application for settlement along with Consent Terms is pending for acceptance before the Hon'ble Delhi High Court. As per the Consent Terms agreed, Times Now reaffirms its commitment to abide by the Programme Code under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995 and the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 and undertakes not to publish or air anything that is defamatory to the Plaintiffs (the Hindi film industry) on the Times Now channel," the statement read, "With this matter settled, the Plaintiffs and the Times Group can look forward to building on their historically cordial relationship."
