Hyderabad: Former journalist with TOI sentenced to jail

Samyukta, when she was correspondent of TOI in 2015, was responsible for a 'defamatory news article' which was published on June 25, 2015 in Sunday Times, Times of India and misreported the activities of Art@Telangana making several allegations including laundered money

Hyderabad: A local court on Thursday sentenced a former correspondent of the Times of India, Hyderabad to six months imprisonment in a defamation case filed by Art@Telangana, a cultural organisation in 2015, and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.

Samyukta, when she was correspondent of TOI in 2015, was responsible for a ‘defamatory news article’ which was published on June 25, 2015 in Sunday Times, Times of India and misreported the activities of Art@Telangana making several allegations including laundered money, a Trust press release said.

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The Trust had filed a case against Samyukta claiming that the article falsely framed the Trust on accusations based on misinformation provided by a few anonymous individuals and published in spite of correct information provided by one of the trustees.

After the seminal publication on a hundred years of history of artists in Telangana, the Trust had planned to release the book in Japan during a cultural program organized by Government of India and the Embassy of India in Tokyo was trying to host a few eminent artists from Hyderabad.

Before the selection process, a few unnamed artists allegedly passed false information to the journalist that the Trust had already selected a few artist couples based on caste and nepotism to visit Japan and were laundering the government money for the ‘Japan junket’ (the article’s title).

The journalist in spite of verifying with one of the trustees, published the article full of defamatory information, found to be completely baseless and had defamed, the Trust press release said.

The court, after hearing both sides, found the journalist guilty of the offence and sentenced her for delinquency and irresponsible journalism.

Dr.Laxman Aelay, eminent artist and one of the founder trustees said, ‘justice prevails! The art community and we have the responsibility to promote our art and culture”.

Papa Rao, a retired IAS and another founder-trustee, said the case was filed with no intentions to target any individual journalist but against the media which promotes false news and discourages honest individuals and NGOs working for the betterment of the society.