Zee Media Corporation Limited “misused” the law to “settle scores” with its former journalist by getting an FIR registered against him at a police station in Rajasthan, the Supreme Court said in its detailed order uploaded on its website on March 16. The court said it was done to pre-empt any liability for Zee Media arising from its negative coverage. 

“We are satisfied that the complainant-company has misused the process of law to settle the scores and to escape possible liabilities which it may have apprehended on account of some sharp reporting,” read the order by a two-judge bench of Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta.

Noting that the complaint was a “fictional story woven meticulously on vague and speculative allegations,” the court quashed the FIR against journalist Ashish Dave, former head of Zee Rajasthan and Zee 24 Ghanta (West Bengal). The bench added that the complaint was “bereft of even a semblance of allegation laying the foundation” for criminal charges.

Working for the media conglomerate since March 2023 as the head of Zee Rajasthan, Dave was asked to resign on September 4, 2025, when a representative of Zee Media filed an FIR against him at Ashok Nagar police station in Jaipur for “unauthorized financial dealings, abuse of authority, and acts done with malafide intent to damage the........

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