Punjab & Haryana High Court Declines to Quash Defamation Case Against Aaj Tak in Sonali Phogat Death Reporting

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to quash criminal defamation proceedings against TV Today Network Limited, which operates the news channel Aaj Tak, over its coverage of BJP leader and actor Sonali Phogat’s death in 2022.

The case was filed by former Haryana MLA and businessman Gopal Kanda, who alleged that Aaj Tak and other media outlets defamed him by linking his name with Phogat’s death. Following his complaint, the Gurugram police filed a chargesheet against the media houses, including Aaj Tak.

TV Today Network had approached the High Court, challenging both the magistrate’s order to register a non-cognizable case (NCR) and the chargesheet. However, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya upheld the magistrate’s actions, clarifying that the procedure followed under Section 155(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was correct.

The Court pointed out that since Kanda’s complaint disclosed a non-cognizable offence, the magistrate was empowered to direct the police to register an NCR and conduct an investigation. The High Court also dismissed TV Today’s argument that the case should have been barred under Section 199 CrPC, as Section 156(3) (meant for cognizable offences) was not invoked in this matter.

With this ruling, the High Court confirmed that there was no procedural error and allowed the defamation case to proceed.