MANMOHAN SINGH, J.

1. Mr Nirmaljit Singh Narula, plaintiff herein, filed the present suit for permanent and mandatory injunction and damages for Rs.50 crores for defamation against seven defendants, including, defendant No.1 Star India Pvt. Ltd., Mr Uday Shanker, CEO of defendant No.1, Mr Shrivardhan Trivedi and Ms Sumaira Khan, both Anchors of defendant No.1.

2. When the suit and interim application were listed first time on 24.04.2012, summons and notice were issued to the defendants for 27.04.2012.

3. On 27.04.2012, Mr Saikrishna Rajagopal, Advocate, appeared on behalf of the defendants No.1 and 2, who informed the Court orally that it is the Media Contents and Communication Services (I) Pvt. Ltd., who was telecasting the news on the Star News Channel. Hence, the defendants No.1 and 2 were not necessary parties to the suit. He was granted time to file the affidavit in this regard and the matter was adjourned to 01.05.2012 for taking necessary steps by the plaintiff.

4. On 01.05.2012, the plaintiff's two applications, filed under Order I, Rule 10 CPC and Order VI, Rule 17 CPC, were allowed and defendants No.8 and 9 were impleaded. Thereafter, the plaintiff filed the amended memo of parties and plaint. Dasti summons and notice were issued to the said parties for 07.05.2012. On 07.05.2012, when the matter was listed, Mr Lekhi, learned Senior counsel appearing on behalf of the plaintiff, was pressing for interim protection immediately on the basis of allegations made in the plaint. On the other hand, Mr Agnani, learned Senior counsel appearing on behalf of the defendants No.8 and 9, sought time to file the written-statement and reply to the interim application. As Mr Lekhi was insisting for interim protection due to the nature of urgent matter, defendants No.8 and 9 were given two days”time to file short affidavit to put their stand about the allegation made in the plaint before filing written statement and reply. Prayer for interim protection was strongly opposed by Mr Agnani. Counsel for the defendants No.1 and 2 was pressing for deletion of their names from the array of parties. The said request was opposed by Mr Lekhi, learned Senior counsel for the plaintiff. Service report for other defendants is still awaited.

5. In nutshell, the case of the plaintiff against the Star News Channel as alleged in the plaint is that :-

(a) The plaintiff's teachings and preaching emphasize the values of true, selfless prayer and devotion to one's duties and guide his followers/devotees to abstain from, rather shun the path of “mantra”, “tantra”, or “yantra”, or in other words “black magic”or “tantric practices”. The plaintiff teaches his followers to spiritually evolve their lives by believing in the ultimate powers of the religion they follow.

(b) The plaintiff started holding Holy Samagams (congregation) where the followers/devotees come to hear his spiritual discourses and seek his blessings. The workings and programs of the “Darbar”and his discourses are telecast/advertised through various TV Channels (numbering over 35) in the name of “Third Eye of Nirmal Baba”. Such programs are watched daily by about 10 million devotees/follower of the plaintiff and enjoy high TRP rating. During the week 1.4.2012 to 7.4.2012, the Program “Third Eye of Nirmal Baba” was most viewed program with rating of 9 out of the top eleven (most viewed) programs in Hindi speaking market.

(c) The TV programs of the plaintiff (“Third Eye of Nirmal Baba”) was also telecasted on various TV Channels of defendant No.1 such as the “Star News” and the Star Utsav. In fact, the said programs of the plaintiff have constantly been telecasted on Star News TV Channel of defendant No.1 over the last about 18 months. However, for the last few days, particularly, since April 2012, defendant No.1 started a sinister and malicious campaign on its Star News TV Channel to defame and malign the plaintiff in every possible manner. Since then, defendant No.1 has continuously