Subhash Chandra, son appear before Delhi Police Crime Branch

Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra and his son Punit Goenka, the company's managing director, appeared today before the Delhi Police's Crime Branch for questioning in connection with the alleged Rs100 crore extortion bid from Congress MP Naveen Jindal's firm by two editors of his news channel, the PTI reported.

Jindal, in an extortion case filed against Zee News, had accused the channel of demanding a bribe from him for not airing its story on the coalgate scam, in which Jindal's company had been named.

In a recent sting operation Jindal Steel screened, some editors of the channel were shown demanding bribe for not airing its story on the coalgate scam.

Zee News said it completely rejected and condemned the doctored evidence produced by Jindal, adding, it saw this as a deliberate attempt to malign the trustworthy television network (See: Zee News sends Rs150 crore defamation notice to Naveen Jindal).

According to the PTI, Chandra appeared at the Crime Branch office in Chanakyapuri accompanied by lawyers where he was questioned. He had been served a notice by the police on Monday.

Chandra and Goenka were granted anticipatory bail by a Delhi court till 14 December on Thursday in the case in which two editors of the company Sudhir Chaudhury and Samir Ahluwalia, were arrested late last month following investigations into complaint filed on 2 October.

The court said that on 14 December, it would decide whether their interim protection could be extended.