Commitments to Tiranga TV Staff Were Honoured: Sibal Slams Dutt

In an interview to The Wire, Kapil Sibal and wife Promila denied allegations of not paying staff at Tiranga TV.

Barkha Dutt accused Kapil Sibal – who backs the channel – of treating journalists in a “hideous way”, “duping and cheating” them.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A day after senior journalist Barkha Dutt accused Tiranga TV financier Kapil Sibal and wife Promila Sibal of not paying their staff, the Congress leader in an interview on Tuesday, 16 July, denied the allegations.

Speaking to the The Wire, Sibal said that the staff members, including Dutt, have been paid salaries till the end of June and the company had adhered to the “terms of the contract” when it came to compensation.

“We have paid salaries to all the employees for the month of June. The employees have been offered a month’s salary as compensation apart from their remaining wages for the current month.”

Kapil Sibal to The Wire

According to a news report, over two dozen employees from different departments had been laid off at Tiranga TV in two rounds – the first one taking place in mid-June, followed by the second in early July.

Employees also told IANS on condition of anonymity that 40-50 workers have already been sacked.

Commitments Were Honoured: Sibal

In his interview to The Wire, Sibal said that all the “all commitments made by the company were honoured.”

Director of Tiranga TV Promila Sibal even said that according to contract, probationers can be removed with “three-day notice”, but that they (staff) were still being offered a month’s salary to leave.

Dutt Fired on ‘Disciplinary Grounds’

Sibal further added that Dutt’s services were “terminated on disciplinarian (sic) grounds” on 13 July and thus she was not entitled to any compensation beyond that day as “she had been terminated”.

Dutt told The Wire that she was sacked for speaking out in internal emails against the treatment of other staffers.

Responding to Dutt’s remark equating Sibal to Mallya, Promila told the news website that the duo had “not fled” due to any financial reason but went to celebrate their grandson’s academic success. “And we were there for only a short period,” she added.

Barkha Dutt’s Tweets & Allegations

The matter erupted when, in a series of tweets on 15 July, Dutt slammed the “appalling” state of affairs at Tiranga TV where she was consulting editor, saying that more than 200 employees are facing sackings there without a six-month payout that she says is the industry norm. She had also accused the Sibals for treating journalists in a “hideous way”.

Dutt also tweeted that she was threatened with a defamation suit for equating Sibal to Vijay Mallya, as the 70-year-old leader went on a holiday to London while the company struggled to function in India.

Dutt’s Complaint to NCW

Moreover, the senior journalist on Tuesday filed a complaint with the National Commission of Women against the Sibals for allegedly abusing female staff members.

She also specified this in tweets on 15 July.

NCW confirmed receipt of the complaint on Twitter and said that the commission has taken cognisance of the matter.