Lucknow: A committee of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday recommended lodging of FIRs against senior officials and journalists of a reputed national news channel in connection with defamation of senior UP minister Azam Khan during the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013.
The seven-member committee, headed by SP MLA Satish Kumar Nigam, tabled the final report of the probe on the sting operation on Tuesday.
The sting operation had alleged that Mr Khan directed the police during Muzaffar-nagar riots to release accused of a particular community.
Mr Nigam, while tabling the 350-page report in the Assembly, said that the news channel did not cooperate with the committee and did not give a original copy of the sting, even after several reminders.
In its seven-point recommendation, the committee held that the sting defamed the minister and recommended that the state home department should consider lodging of FIRs against nine officials and journalists of the news channel under Sections 153(A) (promoting enmity), 295(A) (insulting religion), 200 (misinformation), 463 (forgery), 464, 465, 469 and 471 of the IPC and violation of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The committee has also recommended action against the officials, whose sting was telecast as they have violated the Government Service Act.
