Zee News is an Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

news channel News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

owned by

Subhash Chandra Subhash Chandra Goenka (born 30 November 1950) is an Indian billionaire media baron. He is the Chairman Emeritus of ZEE and Chairman of the Essel Group, an Indian media conglomerate and founded Zee TV in 1992. He was also the chairman of Z ...

Essel Group Essel Group (also known as Zee Group) is an Indian media conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai, India. The group has had business interests in mass media, infrastructure and packaging. Founded in 1926 as the Messrs Ramgopal Indraprasad by Jagan ...

. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the

Zee Media Corporation Zee Media Corporation Limited (abbreviated as ZMCL; formerly Zee News Limited) is an Indian mass media and news broadcasting company based in Mumbai. The company is engaged mainly in the business of broadcasting news and current affairs, and re ...

. The channel has been involved in several controversies and has broadcast fabricated news stories on multiple occasions.List of sources: * * * * * * * * The channel has been subjected to an ongoing criminal defamation case against legislator

Mahua Moitra Mahua Moitra (; born 12 October 1974) is an Indian politician and former investment banker. She won the 2019 Indian general election as an Trinamool Congress (TMC) party candidate from Krishnanagar and served as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabh ...

as of March 2020.

History

Zee Media Corporation Limited (formerly Zee News Ltd.) was founded by Essel Group and incorporated on 27 August 1999 as Zee Sports Ltd. It was a subsidiary of the Zee Telefilms Ltd (later renamed to Zee Entertainment Enterprises). The company was reincorporated on 27 May 2004 as Zee News Ltd. It was demerged as a separate company of the Essel Group in 2006. In 2013, Zee News Ltd changed its name to Zee Media Corporation Limited. The chairman of the group is Subhash Chandra, who is a

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

-backed member of the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

. The channel itself is included by critics among "

Godi media Godi media (; ; idiomatic equivalent: 'lapdog media') is a term coined and popularised by veteran Indian journalist Ravish Kumar to describe biased Indian print and TV news media, which has openly supported the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party g ...

" news outlets who report favourably for the BJP and

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

Jindal Group incident

The channel was tried for allegedly extorting ₹1 billion from the Jindal Group revealed through a sting operation. Two senior journalists Sudhir Chaudhary and Sameer Ahluwalia were arrested. The two were sent to 14-day judicial custody in

Tihar jail Tihar Prisons, popularly known as Tihar Jail, are a prison complex in India and are one of the largest complexes of prisons in India. There are 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, the prison ...

and were ultimately released on bail.

Naveen Jindal Naveen Jindal (born 9 March 1970) is an Indian industrialist, politician, and philanthropist. He is the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power and serves as the Founding Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University. He represents the Kurukshetra ...

had accused the two journalists of trying to extort in advertisements for Zee News from him through blackmail by threatening to air stories against his company in the Coalgate scam. Zee News denied the charges and made counter claims of Jindal offering them to halt their investigations against Jindal Steel's involvement in the scam but filed no charges. In July 2018, the Jindal Group withdrew the case against Zee News and both parties to the litigation stated that an out of court settlement had been reached which remains undisclosed.

Ban in Nepal

On 9 July 2020, Nepal's satellite and cable television operators banned Zee News and some other Indian privately owned news channels, citing "propaganda and defamatory report against Nepal government".

Notices by the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority

In June 2022, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority said Zee News' headlines on Umar Khalid 'gave an impression that the accused had already been declared guilty' and asked them to take down the segments. In the same month, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority directed Zee News to take down a debate show from its website and social media handles about Muslim population for violating the regulator's code of ethics, saying it was "telecast without any data or substantial material to support it". Further, the news regulator said that the manner in which the topic was framed and language used, it was clear that there was an agenda behind the debate.

Programming

Sudhir Chaudhary was the former editor-in-chief of Zee News and also the former anchor of the prime time show on the channel.

Controversies

Cases of fabrication

Jawaharlal Nehru University sedition controversy

''Zee News'' reported that students from the Democratic Students' Union (DSU) raised "anti-India" slogans such as ''Bharat ki barbadi'' (Destruction of India) and ''Pakistan Zindabad'' (Long live Pakistan) in an event on the

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

campus. In a letter Vishwa Deepak, a journalist working at the channel gave a statement that "our biases made us hear ''Bhartiya Court Zindabad'' (Long live Indian courts) as ''Pakistan Zindabad.''" Vishwa Deepak later resigned from the channel after expressing reservations over its "biased coverage". The footage on the newscast of Zee News had formed the basis of charges filed by the

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Delhi Police falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. In 2024, the sanctioned strength of Delhi Police w ...

. Sudhir Chaudhary, editor and prime time anchor of the channel however on a telecast made a statement saying "our channel only showed what was happening there, whatever we have shown is 100% authentic." A forensic report of the

however later stated that the footage was doctored.

GPS chips in ₹2000 notes

Anchor Sudhir Chaudhary ran a ''

Daily News and Analysis The ''Daily News and Analysis'', abbreviated as ''DNA'', is a Hindi-language news program on Zee news that was earlier an English-language newspaper with multiple local city editions across India. ''DNA'' was first launched as a broadsheet newsp ...

'' program announcing that the

Indian 2000-rupee note The 2000 rupee note was introduced by the Reserve Bank of India on 8 November 2016. The introduction of this denomination of the Indian rupee was part of the government's demonetization exercise aimed at curbing corruption, black money and cou ...

issued after the

2016 Indian banknote demonetisation On 8 November 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of all ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series. It also announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes in exchange for the demonetis ...

by the government have GPS chips which will allow the government to track currency, thereby reducing corruption. The

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...

dismissed the report as being rumours. The

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

has also given a statement that no such chips are present in the currency notes. The presence of "nano GPS" in the currency notes has been classified as a

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

being spread on social media.

Navjot Singh Sidhu – Alwar controversy

Zee News telecasted a video with the claim that the slogans of ''Pakistan Zindabad'' were raised at a rally in

Alwar Alwar ( Rajasthani Pronunciation: �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (NCR) and the administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. It is located 150 km south of Delhi and 150 km ...

presided over by the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

politician,

Navjot Singh Sidhu Navjot Singh Sidhu (born 20 October 1963) is an Indian former cricketer, television personality and politician from the Indian National Congress. He is the former President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Formerly, he was the Minister of ...

. Sidhu accused Zee News of playing a doctored video and threatened to file a defamation suit against Zee News. Sidhu stated that slogans of '' Jo Bole So Nihal'' were misconstrued as being in favor of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Zee News accused Sidhu of calling a news broadcast to be fake news sent a defamation notice to him. The noticed demanded an apology from him within 24 hours and threatened to pursue legal recourse if an apology was not issued by him.

Mahua Moitra criminal defamation case

Zee News telecasted a show featuring editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary where he claimed that

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...

legislator

had plagiarised author Martin Longman in her maiden speech after being elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

. Moitra accused the channel of false reporting and submitted a breach of privilege motion against Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary. Martin Longman responded and stated that the legislator did not plagiarise him. Subsequently, Moitra filed a criminal defamation case against Chaudhary.

Spreading fake news during 2020–21 farmers' protests

In January 2021, during

2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest The 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The acts, often called the Farm Bills, had been described as "anti-farmer laws" by many farmer unions, ...

, Zee News aired a video of decorated tractors, claiming that it was evidence of a forthcoming protest by farmers, and commenting, "Why use such tractors of terror in the farmer protests? Are these tractors a means of waging war with the law? Are these farmers' tractors or terror tractors?" The video in question contained persons speaking in German and was confirmed as having been taken from a rally conducted in Germany in December 2020, in which tractors were decorated, and displayed to raise funds for children who were being treated for cancer.

Coverage of 2020 Delhi election results

The

2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Delhi on 8 February 2020 to elect 70 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Voters turnout was recorded at 62.82%, a decline of 4.65% from the previous 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, a ...

were held on 8 February 2020. The exit poll results predicted the

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

to retain their government in

National capital territory of Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. The Zee News telecast of the exit poll results featured Sudhir Chaudhary who indulged in polemic commentary against the voters of the election. He stated that the people of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

had chosen

over

Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( English: /ˈhɪndustæn/ or /ˈhɪndustɑn/, ; ) was a historical region, polity, and a name for India, historically used simultaneously for northern Indian subcontinent and the entire subcontinent, used in the modern day ...

and that the rule of

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

will now return. He further alleged that, the people of Delhi are lazy and only concerned about "freebies" and that issues like

Ram Mandir The Ram Mandir (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Shri Ramlalla Mandir, is a partially constructed Hindu temple, Hindu temple complex in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. Many Hindus believe that it is located at the site of Ram Janmabhoomi, t ...

, the Balakot airstrike and the revocation of Article 370 do not matter to them which is why they have rejected the

. The telecast resulted in backlash and mockery of Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary on social media.

Misinformation during Ramadan 2025

In March 2025, ''Zee News'' and anchor Malhotra Malika were criticized for spreading misinformation about a Kashmiri man offering ''Zuhur'' prayers atop a vehicle in

India-administered Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. The term has since a ...

. The channel falsely claimed he had blocked traffic on the Srinagar–Jammu highway, but reports clarified that the actual cause was a landslide. Social media users accused Zee News of fueling communal tensions and demanded legal action.

References

External links

Channel website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zee News 24-hour television news channels in India Television channels and stations established in 1999 Hindi-language television channels in India Hindi-language television stations Essel Group Zee Entertainment Enterprises Mass media companies of India Entertainment companies of India 1999 establishments in Uttar Pradesh Indian news websites Godi media Television channels based in Noida Right-wing politics in India Conservatism in India Television networks in India