''Dainik Jagran'' () 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 daily newspaper.
In terms of circulation, it was ranked
5th in the world in 2016 and
1st in India in 2022. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to
Indian Readership Survey
The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) is the largest continuous readership research study in the world with an annual sample size exceeding 2.56 lakh (256,000) respondents. IRS collects a comprehensive range of demographic information and provides ext ...
, Dainik Jagran reported a total readership of 68.6 million and was the top publication. It is owned by
Jagran Prakashan Limited
Jagran Prakashan Limited is an Indian publishing house listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. The company is in the business of printing and publishing newspapers, magazines, journals, and other media. Outdoor adv ...
, a publishing house listed on the
Bombay Stock Exchange
BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the 6th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, exceeding $5 trillion in May 2024.
Established with t ...
and the
National Stock Exchange of India
National Stock Exchange of India Limited, also known as the National Stock Exchange (NSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the List of stock exchanges, 5th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, ...
.
History
Origins
''Dainik Jagran'' was established in
Jhansi
Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...
,
a district town in
United Provinces (later renamed
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
), by Puranchand Gupta and first published in 1942. Prior to this, Gupta had worked as the managing editor of a local magazine since 1939 and would frequently visit
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
to secure advertisements to publish in the magazine, which gave him the required connections and confidence to start a
daily newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
. However, soon after its establishment, the newspaper suspended its publication during the
Quit India Movement.
In 1946, Gupta decided that ''Dainik Jagran'' should be launched in the city of
Lucknow
Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
, which was the capital of United Provinces. In preparation for the launch, he acquired a building on rent and sent machinery to be set up there but soon learned that the newspapers ''
National Herald
The ''National Herald'' is an Indian English-language newspaper published by The Associated Journals Ltd, and owned by Young India Limited, a company by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, and Shiva Publications, a partnership firm by Vishnu Goyal ...
'' and ''
Pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community.
A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...
'' were in the midst of launching their first Hindi language editions ''
Navjeevan'' and ''Swatantra Bharat'' in the same city. It prompted Gupta to quickly change his plans with the decision to launch the newspaper in
Kanpur
Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...
instead. The machinery was diverted to Kanpur, new premises rented out and the newspaper launched on 21 September 1947.
''Dainik Jagran'' reflecting the beliefs of its founder, took a slightly right-wing line from its inception.
Early history
The newspaper faced financial problems in the beginning and Gupta had to borrow from his family to keep it running. He cut down on editorial costs by relying on
syndicates
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Fren ...
which offered articles at cheaper rates and by getting free article submissions from political players and activists who were hungry for publicity. He was constantly visiting metropolitan cities to sell advertisement space in the newspaper, and hired reporters on a part-time basis during his visits for newsgathering in those cities.
P. D. Gupta who was the younger brother of Puranchand launched two editions of the newspaper in
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
in the 1950s; the
Rewa edition in 1953 and the
Bhopal
Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
edition in 1956.
By the mid-1950s, Gupta had started making pitches for advertisements and advertising the ''Dainik Jagran'' itself.
In the 1956 edition of ''The Indian Press Year Book'', the newspaper was advertised as ''The Daily Jagran'' and claimed to have a circulation of 21,000 copies covering Uttar Pradesh and Vindhya Pradesh. Gupta registered the newspaper at the
Registrar of Newspapers for India
The Press Registrar General of India (PRGI), formerly the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), is a statutory body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, for the registration of newspapers and periodicals ...
, joined the industry body
Audit Bureau of Circulation
An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...
and joined the publisher's club Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society (IENS) where he became an executive member by 1960''.''
He also inducted his six sons into the newspaper's management while they were still in school.
Conflict with ''Aj'' and Emergency
In 1975, ''Dainik Jagran'' launched its
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...
edition which brought it into direct conflict with the newspaper
''Aj''.
The Kanpur edition, run by Puranchand Gupta was covering four neighbouring districts from the city and had reached a limit where it could no longer increase its circulation in the regional market.
The newspaper had become financially secure and had liquid funds at hand, that led Gupta's sons to encourage him to look into expansion. They had thought of Gorakhpur as the first place to go as it did have a local newspaper or a newspaper edition that was based in the city at that time. Gorakhpur was instead being covered by the
Varanasi
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
-based ''Aj'' and the city lay within its circulation area. ''Aj'' itself had a monetary surplus and its editor Vinod Shukla was looking to expand the newspaper as he predicted that a single edition newspaper in
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
would become unviable in the long term.
Shukla who had visited Kanpur in 1974 found ''Jagran'' to have carried very substandard content and expected an expansion attempt in the city to be easy.
The paper had brought out printing machines for Kanpur in December and responded almost immediately after ''Jagran''
's Gorakhpur launch by launching its own Kanpur edition in April 1975.
The Kanpur edition of ''Aj'' had launched only two months before the imposition of
Emergency rule
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
and subsequent press censorship.
Shivprasad Gupta, the owner of ''Aj'' was unsure about the expansion but Shukla supported by Gupta's son used the period as an opportunity to consolidate the newspaper.
The Emergency created a demand for critical journalism which the newspaper provided and enabled it to make inroads in ''Jagran''
's market share. On the streets of Kanpur, fights broke out between men hired by the two newspapers who used weapons such as
batons and
improvised firearms
Improvised firearms (sometimes called zip guns, pipe guns, or slam guns) are firearms manufactured by an entity other than a registered firearms manufacturer or a gunsmith. Improvised firearms are typically constructed by adapting existing mater ...
against each other for control over offices, territory and distribution.
In midst of the conflict hawkers gained significant influence over the newspapers; initially ''Aj'' was charged a commission rate of 20% while ''Jagran'' was charged 30%, but the hawkers forced the former to increase its rate over the latter, marking the beginning of a period of fierce negotiations over commission rates and recurrent increases in the rates for both newspapers. Eventually the conflict ended when the two newspapers decided to join hands against the hawkers and pushed the commission rate back down to a fixed 30%.
During the Emergency, the circulation of Hindi newspapers rose significantly as a result of increased political consciousness and by 1977, the number of newspapers that were selling more 100,000 copies had risen to over 10 from a figure three before its imposition. ''Dainik Jagran'' and ''Aj'' were both among the new newspapers to join the 100,000+ club.
The period had transformed the newspaper industry and regional language papers including that of Hindi became the face of the rapidly changing industry that would be transformed into mass media over the course of the following decades.
Government policy was changed as well which facilitated the growth of the industry.
Expansion in Uttar Pradesh
The launch of ''Jagran''
's Gorakhpur edition marked the beginning of the newspaper's own period of rapid expansion. In 1979, the newspaper launched two editions in Lucknow and
Allahabad
Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...
.
Vinod Shukla was hired to oversee the Lucknow edition and help them force its way into the Lucknow market, where the newspaper faced intense competition and pressures from trade unions.
The Allahabad edition was shifted to Varanasi in 1981. The newspaper then entered the circulation area of ''
Amar Ujala
''Amar Ujala'' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper published in India which was founded in 1948. It has 22 editions in six states and two union territories covering 180 districts. It has a circulation of around two million copies. The 2019 ...
'', launching a
Meerut
Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...
edition in 1984, an
Agra
Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
edition in 1986 and a
Bareilly
Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...
edition in 1989.
In 1989–90, ''
Navbharat Times
''Navbharat Times'' (NBT; ) is a Hindi newspaper distributed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Kanpur. It is from the stable of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), which also publishes other dailies including ''The Times of India'', ''The Economic ...
'' which dominated the circulation in Lucknow discontinued all its editions except the
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
and Delhi editions after being hit by an eight month long shut-down in the cities of Lucknow and
Patna
Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
. The discontinuation allowed ''Jagran'' to rapidly increase its circulation in the Lucknow region with minimal hindrance.
Mayawati daughter story (1995)
In December 1995, ''Dainik Jagran'' published a story with the claim that
Mayawati
Kumari Mayawati (born Kumari Mayawati Das; 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1995 to 1995, 1997 to 1997, 2002 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2012. She is the national president of t ...
, the leader of the
Bahujan Samaj Party
The Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with Religious ...
, had an illegitimate 12-year-old daughter.
Published at the bottom of the first page in a short two column section, the story included claims that her daughter was hidden away in New Delhi and was borne out of a former "
love marriage
A love marriage is one which is driven solely by the couple, with or without consent of their parents, as opposed to arranged marriage. While there is no clear definition of love marriage, the term was in common use globally during the Victorian ...
", based on an interview with a disgruntled member of the party.
The newspaper went to the extent of calling Mayawati a "''chamarin''", a derogatory slur used for Dalit women''.
''
Despite the story having been given less importance by the newspaper, it created a sensation as having an illegitimate child was a serious accusation for an unmarried woman and a question of virtue. In addition, Mayawati maintained a public image that she had denied herself family and children to fulfill the objectives of the
Self-Respect Movement
The Self-Respect Movement is a popular human rights movement originating in South India aimed at achieving social equality for those oppressed by the Indian caste system, advocating for lower castes to develop self-respect. It was founded in ...
which sought equality for lower castes.
The story caused resentment among Dalits and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) which mainly drew support from them described it as the latest example of a Brahmin dominated press and establishment's constant mudslinging against lower castes.
In Lucknow, supporters of the party demonstrated around the office of the newspaper, blockading it for a day. There were reports of violence during the protest and the author who wrote the piece was threatened.
The story also faced criticism from journalists and commentators. It was condemned as sensationalist journalism that was engaging in gossip about the private life of a female politician and disparaging her. The criticism was accompanied by questions on ''Dainik Jagran''
's ambitions of becoming a serious national newspaper and charges of the newspaper lacking
journalistic ethics
Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional "code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...
, professionalism and credibility.
Some of the prominent critics included the chairman of the Press Council, Judge
P. B. Sawant and the editor-in-chief of ''
Jansatta
Indian Express Limited (IEL) is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including ''The Indian Express'' and ''The Financial Express'' in English, the '' Loksatta'' in Marathi and the ''Jansatta ...
'',
Prabash Joshi. K. Vikram Rao, the national chairman of a major journalist's union suggested that a more rigorous system was required, that a specialised training in journalism should be needed before a person could be employed by a newspaper and that the Press Council should have stronger tools for penalising journalists.
Staff at the newspaper strongly rejected the charges against the newspaper though they were apologetic about the story.
Vinod Shukla, who was the resident editor in Lucknow was infuriated by the criticism, particularly that from Joshi and dismissed it as jealously during his editorial meetings. Narendra Mohan who was the owner and
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
of the newspapers at the time, responded to the criticism with an editorial. In the newspaper's defense, he stated that the newspaper itself was against this kind of journalism and he regretted that the story had been published but alleged that the fault lay on western norms influencing Indian journalism and on Mayawati herself who according to him used "ugly language" and was part of a trend where Indian politics had become unethical which had led to the situation.
In response to the protest by BSP supporters, journalists who were supportive of newspaper held their own protest against the party describing it to be in defense of press freedom. It was reported that several newspapers were going to boycott the party's campaign during the
upcoming assembly election though the boycott was only upheld by ''Dainik Jagra''n.
Some commentators noted that while journalists had frequently faced violence, generally from Hindutva groups, such an instance leading to a boycott was unique and had resulted from the only instance in which a newspaper had faced attacks from a Dalit group.
Later expansions
The Delhi edition of the ''Daink Jagran'' was launched in 1990''.'' According to the then Chairman of Jagran Prakashan, Yogendra Mohan Gupta, his executives had advised him that in order to make ''Jagran'' a national newspaper, they had to launch an edition in Delhi.
From the 1990s onwards, established Hindi language newspapers such as the ''Dainik Jagran'', ''
Dainik Bhaskar
''Dainik Bhaskar '' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper in India which is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to the World Association of Newspapers, it ranked fourth in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Indian Audit ...
'' and ''Amar Ujala'' went on a multi edition expansion beyond their home states.
The newspapers had a new generation of foreign educated heirs, generally sons or nephews of the older owners who unlike their predecessors took active interest in expansions, capital acquisition and partnerships. For ''Jagran'', it was the second and third generation of the proprietors who charted the expansion and localisation strategy of the newspaper.
The expanding newspapers were motivated by the prospects of revenues that could be obtained by offering increased overall readership figures to advertisers.
They copied the strategy that was devised by
Samir Jain
Samir Jain (born 11 March 1954) is an Indian publisher and the vice-chairman and managing director (VCMD) of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., also known as The Times Group, a leading media conglomerate with its primary base of operations in India, ...
's ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'', a newspaper that had become extremely profitable by increasing marketing efforts, introducing colored newspapers while lowering cover prices that starting price wars and led to increase in circulation which in turn brought in high revenues from advertisements.
''Dainik Jagran'' also adopted a
mass media
Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.
Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...
content strategy of localisation through
trivia
Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value.
Modern usage of the term ''trivia'' dates to the 1960s, when college students introduced question-and-answer contests to their universities. A board game, ''Trivial Purs ...
laden local news, and employed local part time
stringers for its newsgathering operations. The expansion efforts by the established newspapers led to increased localisation of news content across the
Hindi belt
The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland or the Hindi speaking states, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India where various Northern, Central, Eastern and Western Indo-Arya ...
but severely harmed stand-alone local newspapers who were unable to compete against them in terms of production or offers to advertisers.
The changes however did not bring about any improvements in the working conditions, job security and professional autonomy of reporters. Most of them were kept as part timers and those who were granted regular positions were retained on a "hire-and-fire" basis. In 1992, ''Jagran'' had only 55 full time staff correspondents and 300 "working journalists" in a total staff strength of 700, the rest being stringers, regional correspondents, etc.
''Jagran'' launched its
Aligarh
Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...
edition in 1993, the
Dehradun
Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...
edition in 1997 and the
Jalandhar
Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...
edition in 1999.
In 1995, its circulation exceeded 0.5 million and the newspaper was being published from 12 locations across Uttar Pradesh and in New Delhi. In 1998, the newspaper received a competitive boost when the Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...
gave an exclusive interview for it in midst of the
Kargil War
The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...
. The interview was later seen as an act of political patronage towards a newspaper that had remained loyal to Vajpayee and his Bharatiya Janata Party.
In the
National Readership Survey
The National Readership Survey was a joint venture company in the United Kingdom ( UK) between the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) and the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA). It p ...
of 1999, ''Dainik Jagran'' was seen to have become the first Hindi language newspaper to feature in the top 5 newspapers in terms of readership, at a time when newspapers from
southern India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
dominated the readership figures.
The launch of the Jalandhar edition in
Punjab
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
in 1999 was the first of a series of editions outside Uttar Pradesh and is described to have been the beginning of its real expansion.
In 2000, the ''Dainik Jagran'' launched three editions in
Hissar,
Patna
Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
and Allahabad, and in the following year it launched an edition in
Moradabad
Moradabad () is an industrial city, commissionerate, and municipal corporation in Moradabad district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of from the national capital, New Del ...
.
In Patna, the capital of
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
, the newspaper focused on crime stories and prioritised presenting the
law and order situation in a negative light to its readers. When
Uttaranchal
Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the northwest, Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, Uttar Pradesh to the south and sout ...
became a state with Dehradun as its capital, ''Dainik Jagran''’s circulation experienced a fourfold growth in the new state due to the increased commercial importance of the state's capital. In February 2003, the newspaper launched 3 editions in
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...
in the cities of Ranchi,
Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...
and
Dhanbad
Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur and a major financial hub of Jharkhand. In terms of economy, Dhanbad has the largest economy in the state of Jharkhand and it is often referred to as th ...
. It was aggressively marketed and publicised but was unable to make a significant impact as ''
Prabhat Khabar
is a Hindi-language daily newspaper published in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, with circulation in some other states in India, including parts of Orissa. It was founded in August 1984 in Ranchi, in Bihar. With the formation of Jharkhand ...
'' dominated the market in the state. ''Dainik Jagran'' launched editions in
Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur, historically known as Champapuri, Champa Nagari, is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern bank of the Ganges river. It is the Bihar#Government and administration, third largest city of Bihar by population and ...
and
Panipat
Panipat () is an industrial , located 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-44 in Panipat district, Haryana, India. It is famous for three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761. The city is also known as ...
in the same year, two more editions in the cities of
Ludhiana
Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224
http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF
Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...
and
Nainital
Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...
in 2004 and then the
Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district on the banks of Burhi Gandak River, Burhi Gandak river in the Tirhut division of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur distri ...
,
Dharamshala
Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibeta ...
and
Jammu
Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...
editions in 2005.
In Punjab, the newspaper faced competition from the likes of ''Dainik Bhaskar'', ''Amar Ujala'' and ''
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 ...
'', all of which expanded aggressively in the state. The rapid expansion by the 4 newspapers broke down the dominance of ''
Punjab Kesari
''Punjab Kesari'' () is a Hindi-language newspaper published from many centres in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi in India. It is owned by the Punjab Kesari group (The Hindsamachar Ltd.). It is one of the four newspapers ...
'' by 2005. In the meantime, commercial interests in the wake of the rapid rise of Hindi newspaper readership compelled the mainstream Hindi newspapers to moderate their adversarial stance towards backward and
scheduled caste leaders. By 2006, the upper caste Chairman of Jagran Prakashan,
Mahendra Mohan Gupta was vying for and received a Rajya Sabha nomination from the
Samajwadi (Socialist) Party which was led by the backward-caste
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the head of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minis ...
, Mulayam Singh Yadav who had also been an old adversary for the newspaper.
From 2004 onwards, ''Dainik Jagran'' had emerged as the newspaper with the largest readership, having displaced Dainik ''Bhaskar'' that had occupied the position since 2002. The two newspapers had maintained a tacit understanding since the beginning of their out of state expansion drives in the mid-1990s, that they would not encroach upon each other's territories. As a consequence, ''Jagran'' had not launched a new edition in
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
or
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...
while ''Bhaskar'' had not launched any editions in Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
or Jharkhand.
In the state of Madhya Pradesh, those who were subscribed to ''Dainik Jagran'' were primarily migrants who had come from Uttar Pradesh and wanted news from their native region. In 2006, the understanding between the two was broken by ''Jagran'' when the newspapers launched its
Indore
Indore (; ISO 15919, ISO: , ) is the largest and most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The commercial capital of the state, it has been declared as the List of cleanest cities in India, cleanest city of In ...
edition which marked the beginning of a period intense rivalry between the two. The new edition was unsuccessful in making in-roads in the market, unable to compete against the Indore edition of ''Dainik Bhaskar'' as well as the newspaper ''
Nai Duniya'' that was based in the same city, while ''Bhaskar'' went on to launch its own edition in ''Jagran''
's territory.
On 8 July 2006, ''Dainik Jagran'' also launched its
Siliguri
Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...
edition, just two days after the
Nathu La
Nathu La(, Sikkimese language, Sikkimese: རྣ་ཐོས་ལ་) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim. But minor touch of Bengal in South Asia. T ...
mountain pass was opened with the expectation that the city would become a major commercial centre. The launch added to the intensification of competition in the region which lay beyond the
Hindi belt
The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland or the Hindi speaking states, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India where various Northern, Central, Eastern and Western Indo-Arya ...
and already had editions of the two Hindi newspapers, namely ''Prabhat Khabar'' and ''
Rajasthan Patrika
''Rajasthan Patrika'' () is an Indian Hindi- Rajasthani language daily newspaper. It was founded by Karpoor Chandra Kulish in 1956 and published as ''Rajasthan Patrika'' in Delhi and Rajasthan, and as ''Patrika'' in 9 other states.
As per Ind ...
'', the former of which was launched only a few months ago in March.
Government advertisements and shrinking readership
From the onset of
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 ...
's tenure as the
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...
, government spending on advertisements in ''Dainik Jagran'' saw a sharp increase with exorbitant spending on regular advertisements. Between 2014–15 and 2018–19, the revenues generated solely from government advertisements of the
Central Government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...
was reported to have increased to over .
The advertisement spending included political promotions and advertisements disguised as news items.
In one instance, five full-page advertisements were published in the newspaper in the period between 25 and 27 May 2015 celebrating the one year anniversary of Modi government.
In one financial year, FY2017–18, the newspaper received in ad revenue from the Central Government which was more than the combined ad revenue of that the paper had received between 2010 and 2013, covering three financial years before Modi had come to power. ''Jagran''
's sister publications such as ''
Mid-Day
''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper. Editions in various languages including Gujarati and English have been published out of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune so far. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore ...
'' and ''
Inquilab'' experienced similar increases in revenue from government advertisements. The advertisement spending by state governments of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, particularly the Uttar Pradesh Government whose advertisements regularly featured in the newspaper was not disclosed upon
Right to Information (RTI) requests.
The government also inducted Sanjay Gupta, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper into the board of
Prasar Bharati
Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB) () is India's state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament. It comprises Doordarshan, the television broadcaster, and Al ...
, India's public broadcaster in 2020.
Per the Indian Readership Survey in 2019, ''Dainik Jagran''
's average issue readership fell by 17% from a figure of 20.3 million to 16.9 million. In Uttar Pradesh which stood as its biggest market, the readership fell from 12 million to 9.97 million while in the state of Bihar, it fell from 3.41 million to 2.97 million. The fall in readership was part of a general trend of fall in newspaper readership due to economic slowdown, only 3 out of the 10 newspapers with the largest readership did not experience a fall. One of them was its rival, ''Dainik Bhaskar'' which came close to displacing Jagran's position as the newspaper with the largest readership. Its readership had increased from 15.4 to 15.6 million with gains in Bihar. According to media watchdog ''
Newslaundry
''Newslaundry'' is an Indian media watchdog that provides media critique, reportage and satirical commentary. It was founded in 2012 by Abhinandan Sekhri, Madhu Trehan and Prashant Sareen, all of whom earlier worked in print or television jo ...
'', the ''Dainik Jagran'' was suffering from "falling credibility in a politically polluted atmosphere" among other issues.
Majithia Board recommendations
Coronavirus pandemic and aftermath
On 22 March 2020, the
COVID-19 lockdown in India
On the evening of 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21days, limiting the movement of the entire 1.38billion (138 crores) population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India. ...
was announced and it heavily impacted news publishers who were already strained due to the emergence of other forms of news media that had splintered audiences and due to the economic slowdown caused by
demonetisation and
GST. R. K. Agarwal, the CFO of Jagran Prakashan described the situation as a nightmare. ''Dainik Jagran'' adopted across the board cost cutting measures; the newspapers halved the number of pages and consolidated printing. It also started raising its cover prices whenever it could which Agarwal claimed was done to recover lost advertisement revenue.
In its pandemic reportage, the newspaper promoted
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
...
against Muslims and extensively publicised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh including through the publication of various articles authored by its senior leaders.
The overall coverage lacked transparency, journalistic ethics, accuracy and factual reporting. The reportage prioritised stories on
Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat ( , also translated as "propagation party" or "preaching party") is an international Islamic schools and branches, Islamic religious movement. It focuses on exhorting Muslims to be more religiously observant and encourages f ...
publishing 230 of them on its frontpage including 120
above the fold
Above the fold is the upper half of the front page of a newspaper or tabloid where an important news story or photograph is often located. Papers are often displayed to customers folded so that only the top half of the front page is visible. Th ...
and blamed Muslims for the pandemic.
The newspaper created a narrative that the government was well prepared and had brought the pandemic under control but simultaneously presented the idea that Muslims were intentionally spreading the virus which had led to the nation losing the "battle against coronavirus". Muslims were dehumanised as the "nation's enemies" and depicted as uncivilised violent people who attacked healthcare professionals and violated lockdown measures.
''Dainik Jagran''
's coverage largely ignored and distracted from issues such as the
mass exodus of migrant workers, low testing rates, the lack of PPE kits and ventilators in hospitals and general mismanagement by the government. It instead condemned opposition parties that criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's management and accused them of spreading "negativity" at a time when the government was dealing with a "war-like situation". The newspaper itself criticised measures taken by state governments with an opposition party or coalition in power while praising similar measures taken in Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states.
Mass burials story (2021)
During second wave of the pandemic, national news publishers such as ''Dainik Bhaskar'',
''India Today'' magazine and ''Mojo Story'', and international ones such as
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
and
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
had published reports and images of mass burials on the banks of the river
Ganga
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...
and bodies floating all across the river caused by people's inability to afford crematoriums that were severely overburdened from Coronavirus related deaths.
On 23 May 2021, ''Dainik Jagran'' published a frontpage story that claimed that the mass burials were normal, that no increase in deaths had occurred and that those who were buried had died of leprosy and snake bites, dismissing the reports from other news publishers as mere
sensationalism
In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...
. The story included a comparison of a recent image with an image that it claimed was taken three years ago from a mass burial at the Shringverpur ghat in
Prayagraj
Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...
and on its basis falsely stated that most images of mass burials at the ghat were taken before the pandemic. According to the news piece, ''Jagran'' had employed a five-man team who made finding after covering over a dozen villages along a 70 km stretch on the Ganga, which included the Phaphamau and Shringverpur ghats. The story was highlighted by BJP politicians including the Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath
Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht; 5 June 1972) is an Indian Hindu monk and politician. He is currently serving as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 19 March 2017, became the first to hold the office for two consecutive ter ...
and then followed by a series of reports from the newspaper between late May to early June that attempted to reinforce the same idea. The newspaper before publishing the 23 May piece had previously published news reports which contradictorily stated that there was an increase in mass burials and coronavirus related deaths.
In June, a journalistic investigation was conducted into the claims made by ''Dainik Jagran'' that found their claims did not match ground realities and noted that the newspaper was known to have been receiving large revenues through government advertisements and disguising them as news. The investigation could not verify the age of the old image but it was found that the image was taken at a different location. Independent journalist Prashant Singh conducted several interviews with ''
pandits
A pandit (; ; also spelled pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt. or Pdt.) is an individual with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge in Hinduism, particularly the Vedic scriptures, dharma, or Hindu philosophy; in colonial-e ...
'', ''pandas'' (household priests),
gravediggers
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Gravediggers have historically often been members of the church, though in modern secular cemeteries, they may be temporary or full-time staf ...
and other locals at the two ghats who all confirmed that while some burials had always occurred, they had never seen such a large scale increase in their numbers before the pandemic.
The investigative report was published by the fact checking organisation
Alt News
Alt News is an Indian non-profit fact checking website founded and run by former software engineer Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair. It was launched on 9 February 2017 to combat fake news. Alt News was a signatory partner of the Internation ...
, which was supported by Prayagraj-based photojournalist Prabhat Kumar Verma,
Aaj Tak
() is an Indian Hindi-language television news channel owned by the TV Today Network, a part of the New Delhi-based media conglomerate India Today Group.
History
Aaj Tak was first broadcast on DD Metro of Doordarshan (DD) in 1995. It ...
reporter Shivendra Srivastav who had covered Phaphamau ghat and government data related to local management. Alt News contacted reporters at ''Dainik Jagran''
's Prayaraj edition who refused to comment on the story but two of them confirmed that there was an unprecedented increase in the number of mass burials.
In response to the Alt News report, ''Dainik Jagran'' filed a defamation case against the organisation claiming that the report had made disparaging remarks about the newspaper and forwarded a plea that the report should be suppressed for the duration of the case. On 1 November 2021, the Delhi High Court squashed the plea stating that there was "
no reason to intervene and stifle free speech", noting the interviews that the report was based on and stated the report was within the ambit of public interest
In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...
.
Organisation
Sanjay Gupta is the
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
and
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
of the newspaper.
Since 2020, he has also been appointed by the
Modi government
The premiership of Narendra Modi began 26 May 2014 with his First swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi, swearing-in as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He succeeded Manmohan Singh of the Indian N ...
to the board of
Prasar Bharati
Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB) () is India's state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament. It comprises Doordarshan, the television broadcaster, and Al ...
, India's public broadcaster.
The news staff consists of a large number of local
stringer
Stringer may refer to:
Structural elements
* Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened
* Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal
* Stringer (stairs), ...
informants who obtain news items from small towns and villages, for the newspaper's sub-edition pages containing district specific news. The stringers generally do not have qualifications in journalism.
Content
Paid news
''Dainik Jagran'' was first named in a 2010 report to the
Press Council of India
Press Council of India (PCI) is a statutory and quasi-judicial body in India, re-established in 1979 by the Press Council Act, 1978. Its objective is "preserving the freedom of the press by maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers ...
as one of the newspapers publishing undisclosed
paid news
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial". Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.
In printed publications, ...
for celebrities, politicians and companies.
The newspaper publishes advertisements disguised as news reports for the
Yogi Adityanath
Yogi Adityanath (born Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht; 5 June 1972) is an Indian Hindu monk and politician. He is currently serving as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh since 19 March 2017, became the first to hold the office for two consecutive ter ...
government. The advertisements copy the newspaper's general news report style and are usually published on the front pages. They are sometimes accompanied with bylines to ''Dainik Jagran''
's staff, some of whom have been identified to be members of the newspaper's marketing team.
The contents of the
advertorial
An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend word, blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial". Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946.
In printed pub ...
advertisements include laudatory reports of the government's activities, quotes from apparent residents praising the government and statements made by Bharatiya Janata Party politicians presented as facts without any attribution. Several of the newspaper's own news reports were repurposed into government advertisements at a later date and presented as new stories, which according to media analyst Vineet Kumar brings into question the credibility of its general reportage as well. Some of the advertorial reports have been found to be duplicates of reports which were earlier published as news items by outlets such as
Zee News
Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language right-wing news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation.
The channel has been involved in several controve ...
and the newspaper ''Uday Bhoomi.''
Editorial stance
''Dainik Jagran'' is a
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 ...
newspaper,
that espouses the
Hindutva
Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...
ideology.
The newspaper has never openly admitted to any leanings and claims that it is neutral in its political orientation.
The newspaper has consistently espoused a
nativist rhetoric of
identity politics
Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...
for the construction of a temple dedicated to ''
Rāma
Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...
'' at the site of ''Ram Janmabhoomi'' () through its opinion-editorials and in editorialised news reports.
Criticism
''Dainik Jagran'' observed silence over Delhi violence and was accused of suppressing the incident.
''Dainik Jagran'' is also accused of running false narratives in support of the BJP government. It ran a news covering
Hathras gangrape and murder incident declaring it as a false case of rape and tried to defend the rapists which were later refuted by the CBI when it said that gangrape did occur and the state tried to do a cover-up.
Dainik Jagran is accused of running smear campaigns against Indian mathematician and educationalist,
Anand Kumar
Anand Kumar (born 1 January 1973) is an Indian mathematics educator, best known for his Super 30 program
, which he started in Patna, Bihar in 2002. He is known for coaching underprivileged students for Joint Entrance Examination – Main, JEE ...
printing false news about his institution called
Super 30
Super 30 is an Indian educational programme started in Patna, India under the banner of Ramanujan School of Mathematics. It was founded by Anand Kumar, a mathematics teacher. The programme selects 30 talented candidates each year from economic ...
.
Dainik Jagran demonised and ran a smear campaign against activist Afreen Fatima when
UP officials demolished her house, including claiming that she expressed her support for terrorist
Afzal Guru
Mohammad Afzal Guru (June 1969 – 9 February 2013) was a terrorist who was convicted for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. He received a death sentence for his involvement, which was upheld by the Indian Supreme Court. Follow ...
.
Fabricated news
In August 2023, Dainik Jagran reported that Indian army carried out a "surgical strike" in the
Pakistan-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 ...
region. The report was debunked by the Indian army officials saying there was no truth in any of the claims.
''Dainik Jagran'' trademark dispute
The trademark name "''Dainik Jagran''" is the subject of an ongoing
civil lawsuit
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...
initiated by the G. D. Gupta family against Jagran Prakashan in 2007 . The G. D. Gupta family are the controlling shareholders of Jagran Publications Pvt. Ltd., an
associate company
An associate company (or associate) in accounting and business valuation is a company in which another company owns a significant portion of voting shares, usually 20–50%. In this case, an owner does not consolidate the associate's financial st ...
which publishes the Rewa and Bhopal editions.
According to the lawsuit, the P. C. Gupta family controlled Jagran Prakashan is making unauthorised use of the trademark name and has laid a false claim of exclusive rights over it. On the basis of a family partition dating back to 12 June 1951 and an additional agreement signed on 10 January 1976, the lawsuit states that the trademark name is jointly owned by the lineal descendants of the three brothers, namely J. C. Arya, G. D. Gupta and P. C. Gupta, and not solely by the P. C. Gupta family. The J. C. Arya family own the associate company Dainik Jagran LLP which publishes the Jhansi edition of the newspaper.
The lawsuit was started by Madan Mohan Gupta backed by several other members of the family and they applied for an
injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
seeking an interim
restraining order
A restraining order or protective order is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation often involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.
Restraining and perso ...
over the use of the trademark name. In 2010, Sanjeev Mohan Gupta, the director of Jagran Publications Pvt. Ltd., also appealed to the
Foreign Investment Promotion Board
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was a national agency of Government of India, with the remit to consider and recommend foreign direct investment (FDI) which does not come under the automatic route. India attract net inward foreign ...
(FIPB) seeking rejection of Jagran Prakashan's holding company transferring shares to Blackstone Group that was planning on investing in the company.
S. M. Gupta stated that the unauthorised transfer of shares without consultation with the associate companies adversely affected them and would lead to
brand dilution, adding that while the case was being litigated at the
High Court of Delhi
The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
, the transfer would create third party interests in it.
Jagran Prakashan rejected all claims made by the lawsuit, contesting that the two agreements had any impact over the rights and reiterated its claim of exclusive rights on the trademark name. Responding to the appeal at FIPB, the company contested that the transfer of shares related to a different entity and did not concern the subject matter of the litigation.
In light of the fact that 35 out of the 39 editions of ''Dainik Jagran'' are registered under Jagran Prakashan, the court did not find sufficient grounds for an interim restraining order on the use of the trademark name. The company has also been allowed to go ahead with its transfer of shares and others mergers and acquisitions while the case continues to be litigated in court.
See also
*
Halla Bol campaign
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 26.48050, 80.30200, display=title
Kanpur
Companies based in Kanpur
Hindi-language newspapers
Daily newspapers published in India
Newspapers published in Gaya, India
Newspapers published in Muzaffarpur
Newspapers published in Patna
Newspapers published in Varanasi
Newspapers published in Uttar Pradesh
Newspapers published in Aurangabad, Bihar
1942 establishments in India
Newspapers established in 1942