Clearing the way for a trial, a special court in Haryana’s Gurugram has framed charges against eight journalists, including prominent anchors such as Deepak Chaurasia, Chitra Tripathi, and Ajit Anjum in a 2013 case registered under POCSO Act.
They are accused of broadcasting morphed, edited, and obscene videos of a minor girl and her family members, linking them to a sexual abuse case involving self-styled godman Asaram Bapu.
The accused media persons, namely Ajit Anjum, Md Sohail, Sunil Dutt, Deepak Chaurasia, Chitra Tripathi, Rashid Hashmi, Lalit Singh Badhujar, and Abhinav Raj, face charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Information Technology (IT) Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. These charges include criminal conspiracy, forgery, and indecent representation of a child, among others.
The allegations stem from their involvement in broadcasting and linking “edited” and “obscene” videos of a 10-year-old child and her family to the Asaram Bapu sexual assault case. The accused have been charged with tampering and distorting the video to portray the victim in a vulgar and indecent manner.
These charges mark a significant development in the ongoing legal proceedings against the journalists, who have pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. The case originated from a complaint filed in 2013 against three news channels – News24, India News, and News Nation – for airing the controversial videos. The chargesheet against the accused was filed in 2020 and 2021.
