News Broadcasting
No relief for Times Now in defamation case
MUMBAI: In what can be termed as a setback to the English news channel Times Now, the Supreme Court has refused to give any relief in the defamation case filed by retired SC judge PB Sawant.
Earlier, Bombay High Court had ordered Times Global Broadcasting, which runs Times Now, to deposit Rs 200 million in cash along with a bank guarantee of Rs 800 million, before its appeal against a Pune
trial court ruling that directed the channel to pay Rs 1 billion in damages for defaming Sawant could be heard.
The channel had erroneously ran Sawant’s photograph during the reportage of provident fund scam in September 2008. Apparently, justice Sawant had nothing to do with the scandal exposed by a
treasury officer, Ashthana.
Later, justice Sawant sued the channel saying it telecast his photograph for 15 seconds along with the provident fund scam report on 10 September 2008.
The Pune court ordered the channel to pay the hefty sum as damages, but the channel moved the High Court. However, the HC directed the channel to deposit the amount of damages so that its appeal could be heard.
Rejecting the company’s appeal against the HC order, a bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi said on Friday there was no error in the HC order. “We find no reason to interfere with the HC’s order,” it said.
In its defence, the TV channel asserted that it had already apologised to Justice Sawant in its news scroll for five days in 2008 and was, therefore, not liable to pay damages.
When contacted, Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla declined to comment.
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
