New Delhi : Senior journalist Upendra Rai has filed Rs 100 crore defamation case in the Delhi High Court against pgurus.com for publishing a sensational, unverified and baseless story against him.
Media is considered as the fourth pillar of democracy. By virtue of this, journalists enjoy some privileges too. But such privileges can’t be enjoyed by journalists by sidelining media’s duties and responsibilities towards society and its members. Also, it should not be forgotten that media has certain ethics and values and any attack on them has never been accepted or tolerated.
However, publication of unverified and unsubstantiated story against senior journalist Upendra Rai on the website of pgurus.com is a typical example of yellow journalism. Reacting to it, Upendra Rai has termed it as part of a deeper conspiracy to defame him. He said pgurus.com is among such websites which publish only misleading stories.
Describing it mysterious, senior journalist Rai said that by visiting the website, no one can find out who is its owner. In fact, this website savagely violates ethics and values of the media and journalism. It an established practice in the media that before writing or publishing against any person, it is essential to know his or her side of story, but this website which is known for airing false and fabricated news, deliberately avoids seeking clarification from the concerned person or authority.
Journalist Rai said this is a well-planned conspiracy against him where in some senior corrupt officials, powerbrokers and those involved in yellow journalism are involved. In this regard, he also talked about his submission of a plea on March 28, 2018 before the Supreme Court for taking cognizance of cases related to corruption against ED official Rajeshwar Singh.
He said while following the standards of journalism, a fight is on against the concerned official for the past eight years. And this appears to be the reason, he said, why Rajeshwar Singh and his accomplices are involved in a conspiracy to defame him.
He said even some powerbrokers are involved in this conspiracy against him. As the Supreme Court is about to hear embezzlement related cases against Rajeshwar Singh this week, there is an apparent restiveness among the official and his cohorts.
It is said that following a request from Rajeshwar Singh, a senior leader wrote two letters to the Prime Minister in between February and April this year. But they were not acknowledged by the Prime Minister. He feels out of this frustration, Rajeshwar Singh and his friends have launched vilification campaign against him.
But “unfortunately, they chose pguru.com to publish unsubstantiated story against me,” he said. In the meanwhile, there is a widespread resentment among people of Eastern UP on publication of baseless story against journalist Upendra Rai. Several media organisations have also condemned pgurus.com’s yellow journalism.
