NEW DELHI: Steel magnate and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal has filed a second first information report against Zee News Ltd.

According to Zee News, this FIR is a repeat performance of an earlier FIR by Jindal "in as much as it is full of similar falsities and over reach of extant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and taken on board in toto by Delhi Police without any effort to ascertain preliminary facts".

The second FIR, like the FIR on 2 October 2012 which was accepted by Delhi Police around midnight of a national holiday, was accepted late at night at 21:30 hrs.

Zee News Counsel Vijay Aggarwal said: ?This FIR is a counter offensive to investigation ordered by the court to be conducted by SHO Tughlak road. The contents of FIR are a figment of imagination, malafide and oppressive. Common citizen are not able to get FIR registered for their genuine grievances but this series of FIR on flimsy grounds show how Delhi Police is trying to please politicians?.

Zee News has now vowed to pursue every single legal and journalistic remedy to expose what it calls the "collusion between Naveen Jindal, MP, and Police / State Authorities". ZNL appeals to all opinion leaders to "intercede as they deem fit".

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued directions to the investigating officer to acquire the phone records of steel magnate Naveen Jindal, a few of his relatives and some Jindal Steel officials for the period from September to November 2012 and preserve them.

The directions were issued on applications by Zee News Limited under Section 156(3) IPC on behalf of its chairman Subhash Chandra
and its Editor Sudhir Chaudhary.

Zee News counsel Vijay Aggarwal was directed by the Court to file on the next date of hearing, 22 January, the mobile numbers of Naveen Jindal, his uncle Sitaram Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal, Ravi Muthreja, Sushil Maroo, Vivek Mittal and Rajeev Bhaduria.

The applications by ZNL had also sought further examining Sitaram Jindal, Prithvi Jindal and Naveen Jindal.

Chaudhary?s application also wanted further examination of Muthreja, Maroo, Mittal and Bhaduria.

Zee News had alleged that investigations into the case against its editors over allegations of attempt to extort money from Jindal Steel were "one-sided". It had demanded JSPL promoter Naveen Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal and uncle Sitaram Jindal be interrogated.

ZNL?s counsel Vijay Aggarwal had moved an application alleging that the Delhi Police conducted a "one-sided investigation" into Jindal Steel?s allegation that Chaudhary and Zee News Business Editor Samir Alhuwalia had sought to extort money in exchange for not covering allegations of wrong doing by Jindals in the coal mines allocation scam.

The Zee News counsel had also filed an application pleading for the court "to monitor the investigation as Delhi Police is focusing solely on the false complaint by Naveen Jindal".

The news channel had further demanded that all call records of all the phones used by Jindal and his relatives to contact the Zee News non-executive chairman should be seized.

Zee News? Sudhir Chaudhury and Samir Alhuwalia were arrested in November following a complaint by Jindal Steel alleging they had made a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) extortion bid but were later released on bail.

MUMBAI: Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra and his son Punit Goenka got interim relief from a Delhi court as it extended protection of their arrest in the alleged Rs 1 billion extortion case till 20 December.

?Interim protection for the two is extended till 20 December,? additional sessions judge Raj Rani Mitra said Friday. He further stated that the court will hear arguments on their anticipatory bail plea on that day.

Chandra and Goenka?s counsel, senior advocate Geeta Luthra and Vijay Aggarwal had sought extension of the interim protection as Luthra had to go to Supreme Court to argue in another matter listed there.

Since the passports of her clients are already with the police, there is no chance of their fleeing from justice, Luthra had argued.

It may be recalled that on 6 December the court had granted Chandra and Goenka interim protection from arrest till 14 December.

The court on Friday also heard arguments on the bail application of Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary and Zee Business Editor Samir Ahluwalia, who were arrested on 27 November.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Friday filed a fresh status report in the case. The court had directed this on 6 December.

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