Court denies bail to Zee News editors; broadcaster opposes

According to Zee News, the editors were denied bail yesterday on "preliminary technical grounds without consideration of merits".

Zee News has strongly opposed the dismissal of the bail to its two editors, Sudhir Choudhary (Zee News) and Samir Ahluwalia (Zee Business), by a Delhi court.

According to Zee News, the editors were denied bail yesterday on "preliminary technical grounds without consideration of merits".

For the record, the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) listed Naveen Jindal-promoted JSPL (Jindal Steel and Power Limited) as the primary beneficiary in the Coalgate scam, which Zee News claims it was trying to uncover.

Rebecca John, Zee News counsel, says in an official statement, "We are disappointed but confident that justice will prevail as the two editors are innocent. We hope to succeed in the superior court."

Both the editors were arrested by the Delhi Police on November 27. The editors were first sent to two days' police custody after the arrest and then, on November 30, were sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Zee News claims that on December 1, the court had pulled up the Delhi Police for the "curious" absence of the public prosecutor and the investigating officer on the case from the court while the bail applications of the Zee News editors were posted for hearing.