NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday issued directions to the investigating officer to acquire the phone records of steel magnate Naveen Jindal, a few of his relatives and some Jindal Steel officials for the period from September to November 2012 and preserve them.

The directions were issued on applications by Zee News Limited under Section 156(3) IPC on behalf of its chairman Subhash Chandra
and its Editor Sudhir Chaudhary.

Zee News counsel Vijay Aggarwal was directed by the Court to file on the next date of hearing, 22 January, the mobile numbers of Naveen Jindal, his uncle Sitaram Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal, Ravi Muthreja, Sushil Maroo, Vivek Mittal and Rajeev Bhaduria.

The applications by ZNL had also sought further examining Sitaram Jindal, Prithvi Jindal and Naveen Jindal.

Chaudhary?s application also wanted further examination of Muthreja, Maroo, Mittal and Bhaduria.

Zee News had alleged that investigations into the case against its editors over allegations of attempt to extort money from Jindal Steel were "one-sided". It had demanded JSPL promoter Naveen Jindal, his brother Prithvi Jindal and uncle Sitaram Jindal be interrogated.

ZNL?s counsel Vijay Aggarwal had moved an application alleging that the Delhi Police conducted a "one-sided investigation" into Jindal Steel?s allegation that Chaudhary and Zee News Business Editor Samir Alhuwalia had sought to extort money in exchange for not covering allegations of wrong doing by Jindals in the coal mines allocation scam.

The Zee News counsel had also filed an application pleading for the court "to monitor the investigation as Delhi Police is focusing solely on the false complaint by Naveen Jindal".

The news channel had further demanded that all call records of all the phones used by Jindal and his relatives to contact the Zee News non-executive chairman should be seized.

Zee News? Sudhir Chaudhury and Samir Alhuwalia were arrested in November following a complaint by Jindal Steel alleging they had made a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) extortion bid but were later released on bail.