The News Broadcasting & Digital Standards Authority has penalised Zee News Rs 1 lakh for broadcasts that dressed up a woman’s consensual marriage as a communal conspiracy – even while airing her own statement to the contrary.
The order, passed on May 28, 2026 by NBDSA Chairperson Justice A K Sikri (Retd), stems from a complaint filed by Utkarsh Mishra on June 11, 2025. It concerns three broadcasts aired on Zee News on May 26 and 27, 2025, covering an incident in the Indirapuram area of Ghaziabad involving a Hindu woman named Sonika, who had married a Muslim man named Akbar.
