Although I was aware of the allegations made against Salman Khurshid and the Zakir Hussain Trust and I also knew there was something about forged signatures of top officials of the Uttar Pradesh government, my first reaction had been: this must be mere politics. A colleague then sent me a clip of the press conference where the Law Minister was clearly warning a journalist that he would take the journalist to court. That prompted me to delve deeper into the issue — and I was horrified. Louise Fernandes Khurshid, the wife of the Law Minister and the person who actually runs the Zakir Hussain Trust, has apparently filed a Rs 100 crore civil defamation case against the two channels Aaj Tak and Headlines Today.

Nothing surprising about that, for every Indian has the right to file a defamation case if he or she feels aggrieved. But what was horrifying for me was the manner in which the promotor of the group who also publishes India Today, Aroon Purie, was personally targeted. It was genuinely shocking. We had journalists asking Salman Khurshid whether he would resign from his post till an independent enquiry clears his name. He blithely replied that he would resign if Aroon Purie, the promotor of the India Today group, also resigned and if there was an enquiry against Purie and his group. Most horrifying: I found hardly any support in the media fraternity for Aroon Purie and his India Today group. Just imagine the extremely dangerous precedent this is setting: so from now on, if any media house were to publish an exposé against any minister, the minister can now lavishly demand an enquiry against the publisher before any enquiry can be set up against the politician.