British-Pakistani businessman and property developer Aneel Mussarat has won a defamation suit against fiercely nationalist Republic Bharat TV in London for the allegations made by the channel’s lead anchor Arnab Goswami.
To clarify, in 2020, Republic Bharat aired a show in which Arnab Goswami called Aneel Mussarat a “stooge” of the main Pakistani spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and also accused him of spreading terror in India.
Moreover, Arnab Goswami in his show also showed a picture of Aneel Musarrat’s picture with Bollywood stars with the caption: “Should Bollywood renounce any links with Pakistanis who take a pro-terrorist line?”
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As a result, Aneel Mussarat took legal action against the Indian channel which worked out in his favor because the high court in London held that there was no evidence behind assertions that Aneel Musarrat was an “ISI stooge”. Aneel Mussarat said the allegations have caused serious harm to his reputation.
The judge also awarded legal costs of £37,500 to Mussarat and £10000 in damages as Aneel Mussarat had sought only token damages.
British-Pakistani businessman and property developer Aneel Mussarat wins defamation case against @republic pertaining to a programme which was broadcast on 22 July 2020 on Republic Bharat. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/9eHoVztymG
— Danish Khan (@DanishKhan80) July 2, 2022
Arnab Goswami’s fake news
Important to note that the Indian media’s Arnab Goswami is a very aggressive journalist who often takes shots at Pakistan that supports the interests of India’s ruling BJP. However, most of it is fake news.
For instance, last year, made the faux pas when he claimed that Pakistan Army officers were staying on the fifth floor of the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul — apparently to support the Taliban in their fight against resistance fighters in Panjshir. He then doubled down on his claim, saying he could even provide the room numbers of the Pakistani officers.
Read more: Pakistan warns UN over Indian NGOs behind ‘fake news’
The bellicose anchor’s claim was quickly exposed, however, because the Serena Hotel in Kabul only has two floors — not five. Netizens from Pakistan and India alike called out Goswami for making false claims, with the hashtags #ArnabGoswami and #ISIon5thFloor attracting thousands of tweets.