Film producer and friend of actor Sushant Singh Rajput — Sandip Ssingh, who was under the scanner after he was seen taking an active lead in events following the actor's death — slapped a legal notice on Republic TV and its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami claiming Rs 200 crore as compensation for “maligning his image in public” and for terming Ssingh a “key conspirator” and “murderer”. The legal notice demands that the channel “drop all malicious footage and articles telecast against Ssingh” and “tender an unconditional public apology in writing/video”.

Speaking to TOI on Thursday, Singh said, “Money alone can’t compensate for the image and respect that I have lost in these past four months. I’ve struggled for 20 years to build my reputation as a film producer and because of the slander campaign that the channel ran against me everyday, financiers for my future projects are backing out, and exhibitors and distributors of our new film, ‘PM Narendra Modi’, are apprehensive about giving it too many shows when they see my name attached.” Ssingh’s production company Legend Global Studio set up in 2015 has made films like ‘Bhoomi’ and ‘Sarbjit’, apart from the biopic on the PM. “Thank god for the CBI enquiry. I was waiting to get my confidence back and take the right step.”

The notice was sent through advocate Rajesh Kumar on Wednesday highlighting news items carried by the channel “with a criminal intent to extort money.” “I’ve been accused of being a drug peddler, being connected to Dawood. They ran a hashtag asking for my arrest for 50 days at a stretch while their correspondents kept stalking my car or tried entering my house. Why? I was not in hiding!” said Ssingh who claims to have known Rajput for ten years. “I met him when he was transitioning from TV to films. Being Biharis we got along very well.”

Pointing at how media speculation had led to him being “singled out” for taking charge of Sushant’s funeral, Ssingh says: “When I reached Sushant’s house on June 14, I didn’t know there was going to be no one except his sister Mitu who I met for the first time that day. There were lots of procedures and no one from the family to get it done so I had to. Was I expected to practice my body language to perform for the media?”

Ssingh says that his legal notice was an attempt to rebuild his reputation and save himself from the trauma that the channel has caused him and his mother and sister. “Will he (Goswami) go on air and apologise to me for 50 days? If he can’t, let’s fight the legal battle.”