Sabarimala petitioners send Legal Notice to Malayalam Media outlet for “malicious” and “false” reporting

Petitioners in the Sabarimala case have sent a legal notice to Malayalam Media House, Insight Media City and its Bureau Chief R Radhakrishnan for allegedly spreading false rumours about them and their family members and maligning their reputation.

Insight Media City runs the TV Channel ‘Flowers’ and the website ’24 News’.

The four individual petitioners, Bhakti Pasrija Sethi, Prerna Kumari, Dr. Laxmi Shastri and Sudha Pal have sent the notice through advocate Prabhat Kumar.

Bar & Bench had spoken to Bhakti Pasrija Sethi and Prerna Kumari who had given details about how they came to file the case in Supreme Court and their take on the judgment. They had also clarified that the petition had nothing to do with the Muslim President of Indian Young Lawyers Association, the lead petitioner. 

Subsequently, reports surfaced in various Malayalam media outlets that the petitioners were proxy for BJP/RSS to further political agenda. The affiliations of the relatives of the petitioners to right-wing organisations were used to buttress such claims.

The notice by the four petitioners states that they are practicing lawyers and former members of the Executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association. They have been contesting several issues for social welfare and reforms and are currently office bearers of the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association.

The notice further states that they had decided to file PIL on the Sabarimala issue in 2006 after going through various news items in different electronic and print media. The notice emphasises on two articles, one by Barkha Dutt which was published in Hindustan Times and the other by Sravani Pandit published in ToI. The petition was filed in 2006 while the BJP government came to power only in 2014.

The petitioners and the petition had nothing to do with any politicians or politics and it is very derogatory to term the honest efforts of the petitioners as politically motivated, the notice states.

The notice alleges that Radhakrishnan “with malafide intentions” and to “get cheap publicity and high TRP” has maligned the reputation and prestige of the four petitioners by spreading false rumours.

The notice also alleges that the media house defamed the family members of the four petitioners by writing falsehood about them.

It then goes on to address two specific allegations – one about the husband of Prerna Kumari and the other about the father of Bhakti Pasrija Sethi.

Siddharth Shambhu, who is the husband of Prerna Kumari, is in no way connected to the Sabarimala petition, the notice states.

“you have maliciously and falsely written that it was he and BJP/RSS who was behind the petition. It is pertinent to mention here that it is not supposed to discuss each and every matter being filed in various courts including Hon’ble Supreme Court with here husband or any family members. She is a true professional and knows very well her limitations therein”.

Regarding Shyam Sunder Pasrija, the father of Bhakti Pasrija Sethi, the notice alleges that the media house crossed all the limits and “uttered sheer falsehood” about him by claiming that he is associated with BJP/ RSS when he has been a socialist throughout his life.

“..you with highly perfidious intention of misleading the masses uttered a sheer falsehood about Mr. Shyam Sunder Pasrija by associating him with RSS/ BJP. Shyam Sunder Pasrija is a highly respected person and had been a socialist throughout his life. He is a man of principles and it is a stigma for him to relate to BJP/RSS. Moreover, Ms. Bhakti Pasrija Sethi never discussed Sabarimala petition with her father before filing it.”

Regarding Dr. Laxmi Shastri and Sudha Pal, the notice states that they have “nothing to do with any political party while filing the petition”.

“Dr. Laxmi Shastri has been a member of the Central Committee of All India Forward Bloc and also Vice President of the All India Agragami Mahila Samiti. No political party tried to influence the four petitioners before or after filing the petition.”

By cooking and inventing fake stories about the petitioners and their family, the media house has undermined the efforts of the four petitioners, in order to incite public, the notice states.

The notice asks Radhakrishnan to tender an unconditional apology to the four petitioners and to place the correct facts on the website and news channel within 7 days.

Read the notice below.