In a setback to Bloomberg Television Production Services India Pvt. Ltd. (Bloomberg), the Delhi High Court in an order pronounced today, dismissed Bloomberg’s appeal against ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. The Delhi High Court has upheld the order delivered by the Sessions Court on 1st March 2024, restraining Bloomberg from posting, circulating or publishing the defamatory article (dated 21st February 2024) against ZEE Entertainment.
Dismissing Bloomberg’s appeal, Justice Shalinder Kaur stated that, “prima facie there was enough material to come to the conclusion for granting an ex-parte ad- interim injunction, otherwise the entire purpose of filing the application would have been rendered infructuous. I, thus, do not find any ground to interfere with the order impugned herein. Consequently, the appeal along with pending applications, stands dismissed.”
The Court also asked the platform to comply with the directions of the learned Additional District Judge within three days.
In its suit filed in Delhi Sessions Court, ZEE had argued that the article published on 21st February 2024 by Bloomberg, was false and factually incorrect, with a pre-meditated and malafide intention to defame the Company. The article mentioned details pertaining to the corporate governance and business operations of ZEE, which were inaccurate in nature and led to a 15% drop in share price of the Company, eroding investor wealth.
The Sessions Court had passed an ad interim ex-parte order dated 1st March 2024, directing Bloomberg to take down the defamatory article from its platform within one week of receipt of the order. The Court further restrained Bloomberg from posting, circulating or publishing the defamatory article on any online or offline platform within one week of receipt of the order.