Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

The Delhi government Monday directed its legal team to initiate action against at least four television news channels for allegedly airing doctored footage of slogans raised at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on February 9.

Following the submission of a fact-finding report by District Magistrate, New Delhi, the government will seek the examination of a complaint against the news channels under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code, said officials. After consulting its legal team, the government has decided to proceed against the news channels, added the officials.

On February 13, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja and JD (U) leader K C Tyagi had met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and demanded an independent probe into the incident.

Watch Video | JNU row: Delhi govt initiates legal action against TV channels over doctored videos

Kejriwal had later tweeted, “There are claims that JNU student leaders shouted anti-India slogans and counter claims that ABVP activists did it. To find truth, Del govt is directing DM to conduct an inquiry.”

Yechury told The Indian Express, “The report has revealed that the tapes had been doctored. We want to thank the Chief Minister because he accepted our demand. Since the government’s inquiry has revealed certain facts… we asked him to take action on those who propagated those false tapes. That is also a crime under the broadcasting law. He informed us that action will be taken against media houses which used those fabricated tapes to create a frenzy against JNU being anti-national.”

A 112-page report titled ‘Fact finding report on the incident of raising of anti-national slogans in JNU Campus on 9 Feb 2016’ submitted to the Delhi government has stated that of the seven video clips examined by the District Magistrate, three were found doctored.

One of the doctored videos was found in the URL https://twitter.com.shilpitewari/status/70088979048964208?s=09.

The video was titled ‘Proof Against Kanhaiya’ and examination showed, the report stated, that it was “not authentic as the audio and video streams are from different sources”

In another video titled ‘Very shocking & Disturbing Video From JNU #Shame.mp4’ which was also found doctored, the DM report stated, the word ‘Bandook’ could have been inserted and “there are other serious editing”. About a 38-second TV news channel clip, the DM wrote, “it was a doctored video with possible intention to misguide public”.

AAP wants HC judge to probe sloganeering

The AAP Monday demanded a probe into the anti-national sloganeering in JNU by a sitting High Court judge instead of inquiries ordered by the Centre. Based on the allegations by JNU professor Jayati Ghosh that “the three masked men who raised anti-national slogans might have been IB officials”, the party said a probe by the Centre would never book the guilty.

AAP spokesperson Sanjay Singh said, “If there is any truth in the suspicion raised by Professor Ghosh, it is a very serious matter. We want to know why the Modi government has not arrested anyone yet.”

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