NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Even as the crackdown by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on the suspected drug dealers connected with Bollywood continued making newer arrests on Sunday, the Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices to several media houses and journalists over their coverage of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case in which drugs often played a major role.
Republic TV and its editor Arnab Goswami, who is under detention in connection with an alleged abetment to suicide case, Times Now and its editor Navika Kumar, are among those who were served with the high court’s notice. The court was hearing a petition filed by 34 Bollywood production houses seeking restrain on the content aired by the media houses covering Sushant’s death case investigation and the subsequent developments connected with alleged drug peddling in Bollywood.
The court has also asked the defendants to ensure that no defamatory content is displayed on their channels or uploaded on their social media handles.
The High Court order came soon after the Esplanade court in Mumbai remanded producer noted Hindi film producer Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife Shabana Saeed to judicial custody. She has now approached the court for bail.
On Sunday, the NCB arrested Saeed and four others during an ongoing crackdown on the use of drugs in Bollywood. In a raid at her home in Juhu, officials found 10 grams of marijuana. The others arrested are accused of being drug peddlers and suppliers.
Saeed was produced before the Esplanade court. The court remanded her to judicial custody till November 23. Soon after her arrest, her lawyer Ayaz Khan moved a bail application for her. The court has asked the NCB to file a reply on the bail plea and hearing is now scheduled for Tuesday.
The others arrested have also been remanded to judicial custody till November 23.
The NCB sources said the Bureau seized 727.1 grams of ganja, 74.1 grams of charas and 95.1 grams of MD (commercial quantity) along with Rs 3,58,610 in cash from the peddlers and suppliers.
Following a tip-off, the NCB first arrested Wahid Abdul Kadir Shaikh alias Sultan Mirza from Andheri (west). During interrogation he revealed he had supplied marijuana to Saeed.
An NCB team immediately reached Saeed’s residence in Juhu. The search was conducted in the presence of two independent witnesses and 10 grams of marijuana was recovered. A notice was issued under Section 67 of the NDPS Act and she was arrested after her statement was recorded, said an NCB official.
Apart from Saeed and Shaikh, the NCB arrested three more drug suppliers in the operation and are questioning them.
While issuing notices to the media houses, Justice Rajiv Shakdher said, “In the meanwhile, the counsels of the defendants (channels) have also ensured me that they would follow the program code and the rules framed under the Cable TV Regulation Act.”
A host of noted Bollywood stars, producers and others connected with the film industry had in October filed a petition in the High Court against some media houses, who they alleged were holding “media trials” of Bollywood and painting the entire film industry as criminals and drug addicts and sought action against them in the fallout of the Rajput death case investigation.
The plea filed through DSK Legal had also sought directions to the various social media platforms to restrain them from publishing the remarks of these journalists which is ultimately leading to media trials of Bollywood personalities and interfering with the right to privacy of persons associated with Bollywood.
According to the petition, the suit was filed due to the channels using derogatory words for Bollywood such as “dirt”, “filth”, “scum”, “druggies” and expressions such as “it is Bollywood where the dirt needs to be cleaned”, “all the perfumes of Arabia cannot take away the stench and the stink of this filth and scum of the underbelly of Bollywood”, “this is the dirtiest industry in the country”, and “cocaine and LSD drenched Bollywood.” A majority of the derogatory phrases were allegedly used by Goswami’s Republic TV.
The prominent petitioners included The Film & Television Producers Guild Of India (PGI), The Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA), Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC), Screenwriters Association (SWA), Aamir Khan Productions, Ad-Labs Films, Ajay DevgnFflims, Andolan Films, Anil Kapoor Film and Communication Network, Arbaaz Khan Productions, Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, BSK Network and Entertainment, Cape of Good Films, Clean Slate Filmz, Dharma Productions, Emmay Entertainment & Motion Pictures, Excel Entertainment , Filmkraft Productions, Hope Production, Kabir Khan Films, Luv Films, Macguffin Pictures, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, One India Stories, R.S. Entertainment (Ramesh Sippy Entertainment), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Pictures, Red Chillies Entertainment, Reel Life Productions, Reliance Big Entertainment, Rohit Shetty Picturez, Roy Kapur Films, Salman Khan Films, Sikhya Entertainment, Sohail Khan Productions, Tiger Baby Digital, Vinod Chopra Films, Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures and Yashraj Films.
(Manas Dasgupta)