Financial Express managing editor M.K. Venu has withdrawn his criminal defamation case against Outlook after a settlement that included an apology from the magazine for putting his photo and name on its cover dealing with the 2G scam and the Niira Radia tapes.
“The cover image of THE 2G SCAM TAPES (November 29, 2010) mistakenly included a photograph of Financial Express managing editor M.K. Venu with a caption that read, ‘In The Ring’,” says the clarification posted on the Outlook website. “This appeared to imply that he was part of a group that worked to perpetuate the then Telecom Minister A. Raja in power, resulting in the scam. This was not our intention and we regret the impression created.”
The November 29, 2010 issue of Outlook magazine carried extracts of several telephone conversations that lobbyist Niira Radia had had with several newspaper editors, among them M.K. Venu. However, in none of Mr. Venu’s conversations with Ms. Radia was he heard discussing the telecom or spectrum issue.
Outlook 's clarification continues: “We are happy to draw our readers’ attention to M.K. Venu’s consistent criticism of Raja’s Telecom Policy in his various published articles since 2007. Readers will bear in mind the foregoing clarification when viewing the November 29, 2010, cover page and cover story of Outlook .” It added that technical limitations prevented the clarification accompanying every online reproduction of the story. “In view of a resolution of the matter and issuance of this clarification, M.K. Venu has withdrawn the litigation filed against Outlook ,” it says.
The case, being heard in a Delhi court, ended on Friday.
