Delhi HC asks Moitra to submit video of incident with 'thief' remarks against Zee News

New Delhi, Jan 7 The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra to place on record the video of an incident, in connection with a defamation case filed by Zee News against her for calling the channel a "thief".

While listing the matter for March 2, Justice Mukta Gupta also asked Moitra to submit a copy of her defamation case.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared on behalf of Moitra, argued that the channel reporter harassed her in the Parliament premises, repeatedly called her a thief, and shoved a mike in her face.

The words "chor (thief)" uttered by his client was nothing but a reaction in the heat of the moment and it cannot be termed as defamatory, he argued.

The court was hearing the politician's application challenging the summoning order in the case.

Moitra had made a speech on June 25, 2019, in Parliament on the 'Seven Signs of Fascism'. A week later, Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary claimed that Moitra had plagiarised an article by Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly about US President Donald Trump, and posted a copy of the article online.

Following this, Moitra filed a defamation case against Zee and Chaudhary for the broadcast.

In the present case, Zee News filed the defamation complaint against Moitra for allegedly making statements against the channel to the media.

During the course of the hearing on Friday, Zee's counsel raised objections on the maintainability of the writ petition of Moitra. He also pointed out the delay in filing the case. While noting these points, the court asked Sibal to respond to them.

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