Anil Ambani's Reliance Group filed a defamation suit against founder editor of The Citizen, Seema Mustafa, on Tuesday, 23 October. The defamation suit is for Rs 7,000 crore and has been filed over the news organisation's coverage of the Rafale fighter jet deal.
This comes five days after Anil Ambani's company sued NDTV for Rs 10,000 crore for its coverage of the same deal.
The Citizen published a statement on its website, stating that the lawsuit had been made before Ahmedabad City Civl Court in Gujarat.
“Anil Ambani’s, Reliance Infrastructure Limited & Others has filed ‘Suit for damages for Defamation’ against Seema Mustafa Founder- Editor of ‘The Citizen’ before Ahmedabad City Civil Court at Gujarat and demanded damages for a sum of Rs 7000 Crore. The suit follows our coverage on the Rafale defence deal.” their article said.
The organisation says it has rejected the charges and is ready to fight for the truth.
In its statement it said: “The Citizen is a non funded news organization that takes pride in honesty, courage and independence. We believe in professional integrity and maintain a code of ethics centering on public trust, truthfulness, fairness, integrity, independence and accountability. We are determined to fight for the truth.”
The Citizen also said that it rejects attempts to silence the media, and that it believes in an independent media.
Earlier, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group had filed a Rs 5,000 crore defamation suit against National Herald, saying that their article on the Rafale fighter deal was “libellous and derogatory”.
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