Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
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Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
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Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
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 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
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deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal&#039;,
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-Wall Street Journal Blog
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&lt;br /&gt;
The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
&lt;/p&gt;
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Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
&lt;/p&gt;
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In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&amp;quot;I got a termination letter...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Wall Street Journal Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 23232,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal&#039;,
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	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Wall Street Journal Blog
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.
&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Wall Street Journal Blog, 15 November, 2013, http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/11/15/sacked-open-political-editor-says-hell-go-to-court/&#039;,
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&amp;quot;I got a termination letter...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Wall Street Journal Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


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                <strong>Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-Wall Street Journal Blog</div><p align="justify"><br />The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.</p><p align="justify">He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.</p><p align="justify">Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.</p><p align="justify">In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;</p><p align="justify">The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.</p>               </font>
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-Wall Street Journal Blog
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The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
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&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
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&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.
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Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
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&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.
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Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
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Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
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&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
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He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;
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Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.
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Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
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&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.
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Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
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Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
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In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;
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Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
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He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
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On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;
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The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;
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Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&amp;quot;I got a termination letter...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Wall Street Journal Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 23232,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-Wall Street Journal Blog
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.
&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;Wall Street Journal Blog, 15 November, 2013, http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/11/15/sacked-open-political-editor-says-hell-go-to-court/&#039;,
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&amp;quot;I got a termination letter...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Wall Street Journal Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. 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The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. 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Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


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                <strong>Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-Wall Street Journal Blog</div><p align="justify"><br />The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.</p><p align="justify">He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.</p><p align="justify">Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.</p><p align="justify">In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;</p><p align="justify">The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.</p>               </font>
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    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr6805c04a0fdc6-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
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-Wall Street Journal Blog
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The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
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&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
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&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.
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Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
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&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.
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Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
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Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
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&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
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He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;
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Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.
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Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
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&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.
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Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
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Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
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In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;
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Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.
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He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
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On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;
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The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;
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Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.
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The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&amp;quot;I got a termination letter...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Wall Street Journal Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;,
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-Wall Street Journal Blog
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The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
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&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
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&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.
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Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
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&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.
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Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
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Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
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&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
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He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&amp;quot;I got a termination letter...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-Wall Street Journal Blog&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The political editor of one of India&#039;s leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&amp;quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I won&#039;t stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I&#039;m doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&amp;quot; he added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn&#039;t say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&amp;quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &amp;quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &amp;quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &amp;quot;After three years, I had to give in,&amp;quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &amp;quot;abrasive and strident&amp;quot; and that Mr. Bal&#039;s departure wasn&#039;t triggered by a particular story.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine&#039;s editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;&amp;quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal&#039;s] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&amp;quot; Mr. Joseph added.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party&#039;s vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party&#039;s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &amp;quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&amp;quot; who he wrote, &amp;quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &amp;quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&amp;quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &amp;quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I&#039;ve worked with the magazine,&amp;quot; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &amp;quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;The next tweet on the feed said the &amp;quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &amp;quot;imposing this professional punishment&amp;quot; on him.&lt;/p&gt;&#039;
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


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                <strong>Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal</strong></h1>
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                <div align="justify">-Wall Street Journal Blog</div><p align="justify"><br />The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.</p><p align="justify">He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.</p><p align="justify">Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.</p><p align="justify">In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;</p><p align="justify">The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.</p>               </font>
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-Wall Street Journal Blog
</div>
<p align="justify">
<br />
The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
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&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
</p>
<p align="justify">
He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
</p>
<p align="justify">
In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.
</p>
<p align="justify">
He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
</p>
<p align="justify">
On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.
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	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal',
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&quot;I got a termination letter...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">-Wall Street Journal Blog</div><p align="justify"><br />The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.</p><p align="justify">He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.</p><p align="justify">Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.</p><p align="justify">In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;</p><p align="justify">The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.</p>',
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	'title' => 'Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal',
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	'description' => '<div align="justify">
-Wall Street Journal Blog
</div>
<p align="justify">
<br />
The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.
</p>
<p align="justify">
He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.
</p>
<p align="justify">
&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.
</p>
<p align="justify">
In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.
</p>
<p align="justify">
He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.
</p>
<p align="justify">
On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;
</p>
<p align="justify">
Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.
</p>',
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-Wall Street Journal Blog



The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.


&quot;I got a termination letter...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-Wall Street Journal Blog</div><p align="justify"><br />The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms,&quot; said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally,&quot; he added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract.</p><p align="justify">&quot;I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different&quot; to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday.</p><p align="justify">He declined to comment further on the issue saying he &quot;did not like to get into slanging matches.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, &quot;Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent,&quot; Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. &quot;After three years, I had to give in,&quot; he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be &quot;abrasive and strident&quot; and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story.</p><p align="justify">Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation.</p><p align="justify">&quot;The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered,&quot; Mr. Joseph added.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The  Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily.</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May.</p><p align="justify">In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress &quot;a large number of [Indian] voters,&quot; who he wrote, &quot;are wary of either of the choices they are presented with.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. &quot;I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking,&quot; he said.  The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. &quot;I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine,&quot; he said.</p><p align="justify">He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday.</p><p align="justify">On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: &quot;Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly.&quot;</p><p align="justify">The next tweet on the feed said the &quot;offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss.&quot;</p><p align="justify">Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for &quot;imposing this professional punishment&quot; on him.</p>'
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Sacked Open Journalist Says He’ll Go to Court-Vibhuti Agarwal

-Wall Street Journal Blog The political editor of one of India's leading English-language weekly magazines, says he will take legal action over his sacking after he was allegedly offered thousands of dollars to leave the company quietly. "I got a termination letter after I refused to take 1.5 million rupees ($23,788) to leave the company on congenial terms," said Hartosh Singh Bal who left Open magazine on Wednesday. "I won't stay silent. I have nothing to fear as long as I'm doing right journalistically. I will challenge it legally," he added. Mr. Bal told India Real Time Thursday he had no idea what prompted his dismissal but blamed the vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises Ltd, a diversified Indian conglomerate, which owns the title, for the termination of his contract. "I was asked to leave the company in a decision imposed by owner Sanjiv Goenka," he said. Open is the leading brand of Open Media Network, the media venture of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. Mr. Goenka declined to comment on why Mr. Bal was asked to step down and wouldn't say if the company had offered Mr. Bal any money to leave. "The company management has its own reasons. The facts are completely different" to what Mr. Bal claims, he told India Real Time Thursday. He declined to comment further on the issue saying he "did not like to get into slanging matches." Manu Joseph, editor of Open told India Real Time Thursday, "Ever since I took over as the editor of the magazine, three years ago, Sanjiv Goenka was uncomfortable with the presence of Hartosh [Bal.] He [Mr. Goenka] felt Hartosh was not the political editor he could respect. I disagreed and ensured no one could touch Hartosh. I treat my people with great dignity. But even I had to relent," Mr. Joseph said, adding that his relationship with the management had deteriorated over the issue. "After three years, I had to give in," he said. In an email later Thursday to India Real Time, Mr. Joseph added that Mr. Goenka found Mr. Bal to be "abrasive and strident" and that Mr. Bal's departure wasn't triggered by a particular story. Asked about the allegations of money offered to Mr. Bal, the magazine's editor Mr. Joseph said that the proposed payment was part of a settlement or compensation. "The company could not offer more than that. His [Mr. Bal's] expectation was higher. He was not in a position to accept what the company offered," Mr. Joseph added. Mr. Bal is the second senior journalist in India to lose his job in recent weeks. Siddharth Varadarajan, was replaced as top editor at The Hindu in October after editorial control of the paper was brought back into the control of members of the family that owns the daily. Mr. Bal said the most recent article he wrote for Open on Oct. 3 related to the battle for political supremacy between the ruling Congress party's vice president Rahul Gandhi and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi ahead of national elections due by the end of May. In the article, Mr. Bal criticized both Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Modi for failing to impress "a large number of [Indian] voters," who he wrote, "are wary of either of the choices they are presented with." Mr. Bal said he stands by his argument in the piece. "I have a body of work that is consistent with the article. I have no idea what led to my sacking," he said. The journalist has been with the magazine since its launch in April 2009. "I have not received any rebuttal for my work during the last four years that I've worked with the magazine," he said. He added the company cited no reason for his dismissal in the termination letter that was handed to him Wednesday. On Wednesday, a tweet on the Twitter feed of an account with the handle @HarshSinghBal read: "Received termination notice from Open today after I refused Rs 15 lakh to move on quietly." The next tweet on the feed said the "offer [was the] culmination of month-long attempts to get me to leave without fuss." Mr. Bal said his planned legal action against the group was for "imposing this professional punishment" on him.