Sandeep Singh Speaks On The Defamation Suit Against Arnab Goswami & Republic TV

What  prompted  action from  you after  so many months  of  slander on one channel?

There  is  a  saying in Hindi , ‘Der aaye durust aaye’. It has taken me time to come  to terms with the loss of   a dear friend. I was the only one   from the  film industry who  was there at the time of the tragedy to take care  of  formalities and to look after  the family.

This  was  interpreted as a  publicity ploy by Sushant’s so-called friends ?

I  was very amused by these  so-called friends who never came  home to  condole with Sushant’s family but surfaced  on television  twenty days after his  death to  get their two  minutes  of fame  on  television and to  boost their  followers on Instagram.This was  their  moment  to get  famous after years  of anonymity. It took them a month  to decide whether they were Sushant’s friends   or not.

In his death Sushant  made many famous?

Bahot  logon ko mashoor bhi kar gaya and  kuch logon  ko sabak bhi sikha gaya. I think Sushant’s death impacted  everyone everywhere , except a section of  the  media which saw this as opportunity  to boost their TRPs.

What do you  have to say about the collective lawsuit against  the film  industry?

I want  to  bow down to the  industry for  collectively getting  together to  fight this defamation. It’s always been said about the  film industry todne ka kaam karte hain jodne  ka nahin. This time  for  the  first time the  film industry has come together as one. I gathered the courage to send my legal  notice to Republic TV and Arnab Goswami after the  film industry took action against the  defamation . 

Are  you in this for the long haul?

By defaming me for standing  by  Sushant’s  family during the time of crisis, Arnab Goswami and his channel have deterred anyone from standing by a friend during a  crisis. I think justice has been served quickly.  For 40 days  the  media  stood guard under my residence. Now  they’re standing  under Arnab’s residence. His alleged TRP  games have also been revealed .

You have mentioned extortion in  the  legal notice?

Yes, I have. If you remember the MeToo  movement  last year ,people’s names were mentioned randomly. Guilty  and innocent people paid up huge amounts of  money to smother the  scandal. No one except the  accused knows what the family has to go  through when  such a scandal happens.Some news channels   have forgotten basic  humanity.

Are  you going to be  one  of those who forgets to follow up  the case after  a legal notice?

Bhulne  ki ghalti Arnab Goswami na kare. This is the  first time I’ve sued anyone. And I’m  doing this because  my family has been dragged into this. You can  forget the fact that I’ve struggled hard for twenty years  to reach where I am. No one should  should forget I’m a Bihari. We Biharisknow how to  fight  back.