The Times of India - Editorial Controversies

Editorial Controversies

• On 26 June 1975, a the day after emergency was imposed in India, the Bombay edition of The Times of India in its obituary column carried an entry that read' "D.E.M O'Cracy beloved husband of T.Ruth, father of L.I.Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and Justica expired on 26 June".

• In 1998, the summary dismissal of then editor H. K..Dua was attributed to his pursuit of an independent editorial policy that did not suit the interests of the promoters of the group. A complaint was filed by People's Union for Civil Liberties in this matter with Press Council of India. The PCI censured The Times of India.{

• On 6 July 2012, The Times of India published an article with title Mauritius offers India 2 islands in effort to preserve tax treaty. According to this article, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius Arvin Boolell who was on an official visit to India during this period stated that Mauritius is willing ceded its territories, that is the Agalega Islands to the Government of India in exchange for the maintenance of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Mauritius. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius later denied the claims of handing over the Agalega Islands to India. He also denied that he had named the Agalega Islands in his conversation with the journalist of Times of India and pointed out that the TOI has "a hidden agenda" as it was not the first time that TOI has done this. The Minister claims that he talked to the reporter who wrote the article and that he has "apologized", following the publication of this article. The High Commission of Mauritius in India issued a statement and explained that this information is erroneous, false and malicious. Never was the issue of Agalega raised either on a stand-alone basis or as part of the double-tax avoidance agreement between India and Mauritius. He explained that the Mauritian Minister has granted several interviews to the Indian press and he did, at no time discussed the issue of Agalega. The TOI published another article on 6 July 2012 with title Minister clarifies Mauritius island offer and mention that it had knowledge about an earlier proposal about the Agalega Islands and had therefore, put a question on the two islands to which the minister had responded. However the TOI did not mention that the offer of Agalega islands was denied by the Government of Mauritius.