NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has filed a first information report (FIR) against Zee News for telecasting an interview of the male friend of the 23-year old Delhi gang-rape victim.

The police has filed the FIR saying Zee News revealed the identity of the rape victim by carrying the interview of her male friend, who has been identified as Avaindra Pratap Pandey by the news channel.

The male friend was also brutalised along with the deceased victim on 16 December by six in a bus and is the only witness in the case.

The FIR has been filed under 228(A) of the Indian Penal Code which pertains to the disclosure of the identity of the victim of certain offences including rape.

MUMBAI: A Delhi court today granted bail to Zee News and Zee Business editors Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia in the alleged Rs 1 billion extortion case filed by Congress MP Naveen Jindal.

Both Chaudhary and Ahluwalia were in police custody for 20 days following their arrest by Delhi police?s crime branch on 27 November.

Additional Sessions Judge Raj Rani Mitra granted bail following a plea by Chaudhary and Ahluwalia. "Bail is granted to both the accused," Mitra said.

The court also said that both the accused will be released on furnishing a bail bond and surety of Rs 50,000 each. The two have also been directed them to surrender their passports and not leave the country without the permission of the court.

It has also asked them to cooperate with the investigation.

Earlier, the court had granted interim relief to Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra and his son Punit Goenka. The court extended the protection of their arrest in the case till 20 December.

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.

The court on Saturday had reserved its order on the bail plea of the two editors after hearing them for around five hours during which the Delhi Police had opposed their application for grant of relief.

Both Chaudhary and Ahluwalia have been booked under section 384 (extortion), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the IPC.

The Jindal group has alleged that Chaudhary and Ahluwalia had tried to extort Rs 1 billion from the company in return for favourable coverage in the scam involving allotment of coal blocks, wherein JSPL is one of the companies that allegedly made windfall gains from arbitrary coal block allocations

Zee has, however, rubbished the allegations contending that it was JSPL which had approached Zee News to stop its aggressive coverage of the coal scam. It had also termed the arrest of its editors as illegal.

MUMBAI: Zee News Ltd (ZNL) has alleged that investigations into the case against its editors were "one-sided" and has demanded JSPL promoter Naveen Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal and uncle Sitaram Jindal be interrogated.

ZNL?s counsel Vijay Aggarwal has moved an application invoking Section 156 of the CrPc alleging that Delhi Police conducted a ?one-sided investigation?. The counsel has also moved court asking it "to monitor the investigation as Delhi Police is focusing solely on the false complaint by Naveen Jindal".

The news channel has 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.

The Zee News statement also said the counsel urged the court to instruct the investigating officer to compare contradictions in Jindal?s FIR of 2 October, 2012 and his petition filed in Bombay.

Meanwhile, Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra and the two Zee News editors were on Monday issued notices by a Delhi court seeking their response on the Delhi police?s plea for conducting a lie detector test on them.

Earlier on Sunday, Chandra had said that he would file a defamation case against the Jindals.

Zee News editors Sudhir Chaudhury and Samir Alhuwalia were arrested last month following a complaint by Jindal?s company alleging Rs 100 crore (1 billion) extortion bid in exchange of not running negative stories relating to JSPL?s alleged involvement in the coal blocks allocations controversy.

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NEW DELHI: Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra and his son and Zee News managing director Punit Goenka were today granted interim protection from arrest by a Delhi court till 14 December in the Rs one billion alleged extortion complaint filed by Congress MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal?s firm against two editors of Zee news channel.

Additional Sessions Judge Raj Rani Mitra said the question of extension of interim bail would be decided on 14 December.

The judge passed the order after hearing arguments on the anticipatory bail plea of Chandra and his son, in which their counsel pressed for interim protection from arrest for joining the investigation. They have been asked to appear before the Delhi Police on 8 December.

Senior advocate Geeta Luthra and Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for the duo, had contended that their clients are ready to join the probe if the police give them the assurance that the two will not be arrested during the time of interrogation. "We (Chandra and Goenka) will join the investigation as has been asked by the police for 8 December and even before, if required.

"But, if the police decides to arrest us, then it should give at least five days? time so that we can argue the matter at length on some other day," the counsel argued. They had also said that their clients should be granted protection so that they can join the probe without fear of arrest.

Special Public Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan opposed their plea saying, "We cannot commit or assure that they (Chandra and his son) will not be arrested. The moment we get a lead of the alleged extortion made on behalf of Zee Group by their two editors, we will arrest them."

The prosecutor contended that the investigation till now and the evidence point towards the alleged involvement of Chandra and Goenka in the whole conspiracy.

He also said the two jailed editors (Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia) have not acted alone and that the whole episode was planned in collusion with the seniors of the Zee group in a conspiracy hatched to extort Rs 100 crore for their channel.

Both Chaudhary and Ahluwalia, presently lodged in Tihar jail, have been booked under section 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code.

A Delhi court had on 28 November rejected the bail plea of ZNL editors, Sudhir Chaudhary (Zee News) and Samir Ahluwalia (Zee Business), and sent them to two-day police custody till 30 November.

Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia were arrested on 27 November on charges of extortion by the crime branch of Delhi Police on an FIR filed by a JSPL official last month.

The company alleged that ZNL editors Chaudhary and Ahluwalia had demanded Rs 1 billion worth of advertisements from the company in return for favourable coverage in the scam involving allotment of coal blocks, wherein JSPL is one of the companies that allegedly made windfall gains from arbitrary coal block allocations.

Earlier, the Broadcast Editors? Association (BEA) had removed Zee News editor and business head Sudhir Chaudhary from the post of treasurer and primary membership of the body after a three-member committee set-up to probe the matter had found the two acting in an in-appropriate manner.The removal followed a sting operation carried out by Jindal?s company during meetings in a Delhi hotel.

The video recordings from a hidden camera purportedly showed Zee Business Editor Ahluwalia demanding money from Jindals in exchange for going soft on coverage of alleged involvement of Jindal?s firms in the coal scam.