Pradeep Rai has initiated a criminal defamation lawsuit against Aroon Purie and the India Today Group for publishing articles that linked him to conman Sanjay Sherpuria. Sherpuria, a businessman from Lucknow, was arrested on allegations that he and his associates collected money by falsely claiming connections with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and senior bureaucrats.

Rai’s lawsuit targets two stories published on Aaj Tak’s website, which alleged that Rai was summoned by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) for questioning in relation to the Sanjay Sherpuria case. Rai contends that these articles are defamatory, wrongly claiming that he is the nephew of Sanjay Rai Sherpuria.

_”Let summons be issued to accused
1. Aroon Purie (Chairman, India Today Group),
2. Kallie Purie (Vice Chairman, India Today Group),
3. Supriya Prasad (Managing Editor, Tak Channels), 4. Milind Khandekar (Managing Editor) and
5. India Today on filing of PF within 15 days from today, for offence under section 500 IPC, for the NDOH (next date of hearing),”the Court said._

Additionally, Rai has also filed a criminal defamation suit against ABP News, resulting in the court summoning the channel and its office bearers.

Pradeep Rai Vs. Aroon Purrie