Delhi HC dismisses Bloomberg plea against order to take down article on Zeel

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed the plea from Bloomberg challenging a trial court order directing it to take down an allegedly defamatory article on Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited.

Last week on Thursday, Justice Shalinder Kaur reserved the verdict and directed both parties to submit written arguments within five days.

The article titled "India Regulator Uncovers $241 Million Accounting Issue at Zee" was published by Bloomberg on February 21. The trial court noted that Zee had established a prima facie case for granting interim ex-parte injunction orders, and the balance of convenience favoured Zee over Bloomberg.

It also stated that if the injunction were not granted, Zee could suffer irreparable loss and harm. It also prohibited the platform from posting, circulating, or publishing the article on any online or offline platform until March 26.

Zee argued that the article was defamatory and intended to tarnish its reputation, alleging a pre-meditated and malicious intent behind its publication. It was submitted that the contents of the article directly pertained to corporate governance and business operations of Zee and speculated the contents as truth. It was additionally argued that following the publication of the article, both Zee and its investors experienced losses, with the company's stock price dropping by 15%.

Zee asserted that the authors and researchers of the article had previously published numerous pieces against the company. However, the contested article went further by alleging illegal fund diversion without any substantiation.

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