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Journalism of Courage
An Indian-American lawyer, Ravi Batra, sued producers of TV show Law & Order for $15 million, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in a ‘‘ripped from the headlines’’ episode. The episode focuses on the husband of a woman whose body is found in the Hudson river. Detectives investigate the husband’s alibi and find a corruption scandal at the courthouse where the wife worked. The scandal includes her divorce lawyer and a judge who has heard a suspiciously large number of the lawyer’s cases.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, where Batra is well-known, a probe by the DA’s office resulted in arrests for the alleged fixing of matrimonial cases by judges and lawyers. The lawsuit filed on Friday says the episode featured an NRI Brooklyn-based lawyer Ravi Patel who has similarities with Batra — a bald head and facial hair. —AP/PTI
