NEW YORK: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed an order requiring journalist Rahul Pandita to pay INR7.5 million (US$89,800) in defamation compensation to senior paramilitary officer Harpreet Singh Sidhu, according to news reports. This stay will remain in effect until the next hearing, scheduled for October 21.
On March 5, an appellate court ordered Pandita, an independent journalist and author, to pay the original ask of INR5 million (US$59,900) plus 6% interest, totaling INR7.5 million, from the date of the suit’s filing. This compensation was for Sidhu’s alleged “loss of reputation and goodwill, mental agony, and hardship due to unfounded derogatory remarks.”
On May 28, the high court stayed the appellate court’s decision after it was revealed that Pandita was not even aware of the trial proceedings against him and had no opportunity to defend himself, according to CPJ’s review of the court ruling.
The order stemmed from a December 13, 2014, report by Pandita, who worked with The Hindu newspaper as an opinion and special stories editor at the time, that has since been withdrawn but was reviewed by CPJ. While it is not clear why the publication withdrew the story, The Hindu initially defended Pandita’s report in a response to Sidhu’s legal notice to the publication as fair comment, according to the Mumbai Press Club.
The report accused Sidhu of negligence in his duties as Inspector general of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) operations in Chhattisgarh. The original defamation suit filed by Sidhu was dismissed by a lower court in Mohali on September 16, 2017, but Sidhu challenged this judgment, leading to the appellate court’s recent decision.
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