The CBI took umbrage to an NYT editorial slamming the agency over the NDTV raids.
The CBI seems to have taken offence to a NYT editorial on raids on NDTV raids titled India’s Battered Free Press which had termed a ‘vendetta’, calling the raids ‘mark an alarming new level of intimidation of India’s new media under Narendra Modi’
It appears that CBI took umbrage to the accusations and wrote a strongly worded letter to the NYT which is reproduced below:
“India’s Battered Press” (editorial, June 7) gives the impression that action is not being taken against other big loan defaulters and that the raids on NDTV’s founders were a part of a “vendetta” against the broadcaster. The editorial is one-sided and doesn’t consider the investigation history of the case against RRPR Holdings by different tax and law enforcement agencies in India since 2011.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating over 100 criminal cases worth a total loan default of over $5 billion. Many of the leading loan defaulters are behind bars, their assets attached, and prosecutions are being pursued vigorously in the courts.
The ICICI bank’s loss is merely tip of the iceberg. RRPR Holdings, the holding company of NDTV, is also being investigated for irregularities in the mobilization of funds used for loan repayment. There have also been serious defaults in tax payment.
Your editorial states that NDTV Hindi was taken off the air for a day for reporting on a sensitive attack on an air base. The decision was arrived at after a proper inquiry in which NDTV also participated. No democracy can allow the country’s security and public safety to be compromised by irresponsible reporting of terrorist incidents.
In this entire case due process of law is being followed. India has a robust and independent judiciary that strongly protects democratic freedom and that an aggrieved person can always approach. India does not require any lesson on freedom of the press from The Times. Our institutions and traditions are nurtured by our rich and diverse cultural heritage and democratic ethos.
R. K. GAUR, NEW DELHI
The writer is the press information officer and spokesman for the Central Bureau of Investigation.
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