TV Today Network denied interim relief by Delhi HC in case against Newslaundry

New Delhi: Interim relief was refused to be granted to TV Today Network, which owns news channels India Today and Aaj Tak, by the Delhi High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief in a defamation and copyright infringement case against NewsLaundry, its management and senior editorial staff.

In a case filed last year, the TV Today Network had sought damages of Rs 2 crore (Rs 2,00,00,100) from its anchors, management and employees for "commercially disparaging" its commercial product and "defaming" it.

While pronouncing the order on the application seeking interim relief, Justice Asha Menon said the matter would be treated as a commercial dispute. She also said that there was no balance of convenience aspect or irreparable loss aspect in favour of TV Today Network to grant interim relief.

The court said that although prima facie the case is pending, an interim injunction cannot be granted at this stage, the Indian Express reported.

According to the lawsuit, News Laundry uploaded various videos on its website and social media platforms that "infringed" the copyright of the TV Today network and made "made untrue, unfair, disparaging as well as maliciously defamatory remarks" about news, reporting and news anchors of the news channels it runs and the management of the media group.

The TV Today Network had sought an interim injunction to prevent Newslaundry and its employees from infringing the media organization's copyright and publishing defamatory or commercially defamatory content against its news channels.

TV Today Network had sought to remove the alleged content from the Newslaundry website, its YouTube channel and social media profiles. It also sought the suspension, blocking and termination of Newslandry's YouTube channel and its Facebook and Instagram profiles.