It is sad to see that in the quest for spicing up stories, some journalists are succumbing to irresponsible and fake reporting.

One such recent case is of an article which has been written by a journalist for one of the top selling English newspapers of the country on July 12, 2007.

In the article, the writer claims that Shiney Ahuja has tried to forge relationships with actresses Vidya Balan, Kangana Ranaut and director Ruchi Narayan (director of 'Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow'). We don't know who the writer's fake 'source' is (or if it is her own mind). What we do know and state is that Shiney Ahuja is a happily married man with no interest in affairs and flings and that the writer has 'made-up' the entire story without any proof or truth. We call this 'created' news.

We do not know if she has done this to fill newspaper space or out of malicious intent. What we do know is that the story is a perfect case of IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM and that her prestigious paper, knowingly or unknowingly, has allowed it to appear.

The journalist neither bothered to verify her claims with either Shiney Ahuja, his makers or co-artistes in question, or the persons who look after the actor's work, nor carried a clarification that we sent to her after her 'fake story' appeared on the front page of the Delhi edition of this newspaper.

Since the said article amounts to a case of defamation, we have been forced to issue this clarification, as a prerequisite to further action.

As told by Dale Bhagwagar: spokesperson and publicist to Shiney Ahuja.