Legal action against newspaper for carrying hoax news

CM clarifies on hoax Raksha Bandhan letter

By A Staff Reporter

IMPHAL | Aug 5

A hoax letter which “notifies” all government employees to attend Raksha Bandhan on August 7, has been doing the rounds in the social media. The matter was further aggravated when a local newspaper carried the news without authenticating the source. The letter had such an impact to the general public that chief minister N. Biren had to clarify in his Facebook post.

The letter supposedly from the department of personnel and administrative reforms (Personnel Division) bearing number 23/120/2017-Misc/DP mentioned that “It has been decided to celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan on Monday, the 7th August, 2017. In this connection, all office/departments shall remain open and celebrate the festival collectively at a suitable time wherein all the lady staff shall tie Rakhis to their male colleagues and all are requested to wear traditional attire on that day,” the circular was purportedly signed by undersecretary of DP, Ph. Bhavadanda Sharma.

Imphal Free Press called up under-secretary Bhavananda, whose name was wrongly spelt and asked him if he had any knowledge. He clarified that the letter is a hoax and the matter has already been clarified by the CM as he is the concerned minister in-charge of the DP. Regarding the hoax, sources mentioned that a case is to be registered with the cyber-crime department.

Chief minister N. Biren in his Facebook post said a newspaper had carried the hoax report without any authentication and it is a malicious attempt to malign his government, “legal action has been initiated against the newspaper for trying to spread false news without any attempt to verify from the concerned department,… I request users to be careful with such malicious attempts to malign my government,”  Biren posted on his Facebook page this morning. After his clarification, the issue fizzled out in the social media.

It was learnt that a legal notice has been served to a vernacular paper, which carried the report.

CM clarifies on hoax Raksha Bandhan letter

By A Staff Reporter

IMPHAL | Aug 5

A hoax letter which “notifies” all government employees to attend Raksha Bandhan on August 7, has been doing the rounds in the social media. The matter was further aggravated when a local newspaper carried the news without authenticating the source. The letter had such an impact to the general public that chief minister N. Biren had to clarify in his Facebook post.

The letter supposedly from the department of personnel and administrative reforms (Personnel Division) bearing number 23/120/2017-Misc/DP mentioned that “It has been decided to celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan on Monday, the 7th August, 2017. In this connection, all office/departments shall remain open and celebrate the festival collectively at a suitable time wherein all the lady staff shall tie Rakhis to their male colleagues and all are requested to wear traditional attire on that day,” the circular was purportedly signed by undersecretary of DP, Ph. Bhavadanda Sharma.

Imphal Free Press called up under-secretary Bhavananda, whose name was wrongly spelt and asked him if he had any knowledge. He clarified that the letter is a hoax and the matter has already been clarified by the CM as he is the concerned minister in-charge of the DP. Regarding the hoax, sources mentioned that a case is to be registered with the cyber-crime department.

Chief minister N. Biren in his Facebook post said a newspaper had carried the hoax report without any authentication and it is a malicious attempt to malign his government, “legal action has been initiated against the newspaper for trying to spread false news without any attempt to verify from the concerned department,… I request users to be careful with such malicious attempts to malign my government,”  Biren posted on his Facebook page this morning. After his clarification, the issue fizzled out in the social media.

It was learnt that a legal notice has been served to a vernacular paper, which carried the report.

Read more / Original news source: http://www.ifp.co.in/item/2583-legal-action-against-newspaper-for-carrying-hoax-news