Dhanya Rajendran-led The News Minute does a shoddy hit job against Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu, his lawyer responds: Why the Left loves to hate Vembu
After spearheading the malicious media campaign to malign a Hindu religious institution in the Dharmasthala mass grave hoax, Dhanya Rajendran’s The News Minute has now stooped to a new low by monetising on someone’s personal agony. In a recently published “exclusive” report, The New Minute carried out a hit job against Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu by misrepresenting a California court order in his divorce case. In the paywalled article, The News Minute relied on a year-old court order in his divorce proceedings to mar Vembu’s reputation. The article claimed that Vembu’s public image of a role model and someone with “simple living and high thinking” was contradicted by the pre-trial findings of the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, which is hearing his divorce case. The article mentioned that the court order directed Vembu to post a bond of $1.7 billion, and appointed a receiver over multiple Zoho entities in the US and his personal assets, to protect his ex-wife Pramila Srinivasan’s rights. It produced an excerpt from the court order which read: “The record in this case demonstrates that Petitioner (Sridhar) has acted without regard for Respondent’s (Pramila’s) interests in community assets and without regard for the law, and that Zoho Corporation, T&V Holdings, Inc., Tony Thomas, ZCPL and related entities will act at Petitioner’s direction to further Petitioner’s interest and prejudice Respondent’s interests.” The media outlet presented the allegations levelled by Vembu’s wife, Pramila Srinivasan, as facts to insinuate that he did not want to give his wife her due share in their shared assets. The article also stated that an “extensive profile of the tech billionaire” was soon going to be published in The News Minute. The News Minute’s propaganda countered by Vembu’s attorney The online media portal’s attempt to tarnish the image of Vembu, a supporter of nationalist causes, which seems to have made him a target of the hit job, was countered by his attorney in an online post. Vembu’s attorney, Christopher C. Melcher, called out The News Minute for relying on a January 2025 court order, which was on appeal, and pointed out that some facts were missing from their article. Melcher explained that the allegations levelled by Vembu’s wife against him were “outrageously false” and that her lawyer, who accordting to Melcher, is not even licensed to practice law in California, misled the judge. He stated that the part of the California court order relating to the appointment of a receiver over multiple Zoho entities has been stayed on appeal and that the $1.7 billion bond order is on appeal. As Sridhar Vembu’s counsel, I can add some facts missing from the article. The order was made 1 year ago on an emergency application by his wife, meaning we had little time to response to the outrageously false allegations she made against Sridhar. The judge in California was…— Christopher C. Melcher (@CA_Divorce) January 8, 2026 The news article refers to an old order partially stayed on appeal: Vembu’s lawyer Melcher clarified that Vembu offered his wife 50% of his shares in ZCPL, but she refused to accept it and went on to claim that he was trying to cheat her in the divorce. He further stated that Vembu had already transferred his share in the family home to her. Regarding the $1.7 billion bond, Melcher said that the order had no legal authority. “Despite acting honourably during this process, the judge was fooled into making an order that Sridhar post a $1.7 billion bond for the wife’s supposed protection. There is no legal authority for such an order. A subsequent judge acknowledged that the amount seemed absurd. Sridhar was able to borrow up to $150 million against his shares, which was the extent of his ability to comply, but his wife would not accept the money,” Melcher wrote on X on Thursday (8th January). Vembu’s attorney further stated that the wife did not even seek alimony and is merely wasting his time. “This was a waste of time by the wife, as she has nothing to show for her effort to disparage Sridhar. Her attorney misled the court and may be misleading her, too, about reality, while he has billed millions of dollars in fees. This has nothing to do with alimony, by the way, as the wife has not even sought an order for support. Sridhar is in full compliance with all lawful orders of California,” Melcher added. The News Minute tried to pass off interim court observations as a final verdict The libellous article by The News Minute is a testament to the portal’s predatory journalism. Just because Sirdhar Vembu does not align with the media outlet’s ideological leanings, it exploited his marital dispute to pass a moral judgment on him, while also making money from his personal distress. The article cherry-picked the court’s observations from the pre-trial stage, when the evidentiary record available before the court is limited. It attempts to pass off interim observatio
In the paywalled article, The News Minute relied on a year-old court order in his divorce proceedings to mar Vembu’s reputation. The article claimed that Vembu’s public image of a role model and someone with “simple living and high thinking” was contradicted by the pre-trial findings of the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, which is hearing his divorce case. The article mentioned that the court order directed Vembu to post a bond of $1.7 billion, and appointed a receiver over multiple Zoho entities in the US and his personal assets, to protect his ex-wife Pramila Srinivasan’s rights.
It produced an excerpt from the court order which read: “The record in this case demonstrates that Petitioner (Sridhar) has acted without regard for Respondent’s (Pramila’s) interests in community assets and without regard for the law, and that Zoho Corporation, T&V Holdings, Inc., Tony Thomas, ZCPL and related entities will act at Petitioner’s direction to further Petitioner’s interest and prejudice Respondent’s interests.”
The media outlet presented the allegations levelled by Vembu’s wife, Pramila Srinivasan, as facts to insinuate that he did not want to give his wife her due share in their shared assets. The article also stated that an “extensive profile of the tech billionaire” was soon going to be published in The News Minute.
The News Minute’s propaganda countered by Vembu’s attorney
The online media portal’s attempt to tarnish the image of Vembu, a supporter of nationalist causes, which seems to have made him a target of the hit job, was countered by his attorney in an online post. Vembu’s attorney, Christopher C. Melcher, called out The News Minute for relying on a January 2025 court order, which was on appeal, and pointed out that some facts were missing from their article. Melcher explained that the allegations levelled by Vembu’s wife against him were “outrageously false” and that her lawyer, who accordting to Melcher, is not even licensed to practice law in California, misled the judge. He stated that the part of the California court order relating to the appointment of a receiver over multiple Zoho entities has been stayed on appeal and that the $1.7 billion bond order is on appeal.
As Sridhar Vembu’s counsel, I can add some facts missing from the article. The order was made 1 year ago on an emergency application by his wife, meaning we had little time to response to the outrageously false allegations she made against Sridhar. The judge in California was…
— Christopher C. Melcher (@CA_Divorce) January 8, 2026
The news article refers to an old order partially stayed on appeal: Vembu’s lawyer
Melcher clarified that Vembu offered his wife 50% of his shares in ZCPL, but she refused to accept it and went on to claim that he was trying to cheat her in the divorce. He further stated that Vembu had already transferred his share in the family home to her. Regarding the $1.7 billion bond, Melcher said that the order had no legal authority. “Despite acting honourably during this process, the judge was fooled into making an order that Sridhar post a $1.7 billion bond for the wife’s supposed protection. There is no legal authority for such an order. A subsequent judge acknowledged that the amount seemed absurd. Sridhar was able to borrow up to $150 million against his shares, which was the extent of his ability to comply, but his wife would not accept the money,” Melcher wrote on X on Thursday (8th January).
The News Minute tried to pass off interim court observations as a final verdict
The libellous article by The News Minute is a testament to the portal’s predatory journalism. Just because Sirdhar Vembu does not align with the media outlet’s ideological leanings, it exploited his marital dispute to pass a moral judgment on him, while also making money from his personal distress. The article cherry-picked the court’s observations from the pre-trial stage, when the evidentiary record available before the court is limited. It attempts to pass off interim observations of the court, which are often overturned, as the final verdict in an ongoing divorce proceeding. The malice of the media outlet is laid bare by the fact that the article insidiously omits to mention that the court order has been appealed from and part of it has been stayed.
The media outlet is loved by anti-India forces
This exposes how The News Minute misuses journalism as a tool to further its agenda by targeting individuals who do not fit its ideological narrative. It is pertinent to mention here that in October 2025, the editor-in-chief of The News Minute, Dhanya Rajendran, was nominated for “Impact Prize of the Year 2025” by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), weeks after she amplified the baseless Dharmasthala “mass grave” hoax in efforts to malign a Hindu religious institution. Notably, the donors of the RSF, a Paris-based NGO, include the French Foreign Ministry, European Commission, Swedish SIDA, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a U.S. government-funded organisation widely known as the CIA’s soft arm for regime change, and George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF). OSF network funds a web of Indian NGOs, media portals, and “civil society” actors that consistently amplify anti-India and anti-Hindu narratives.
Why Sridhar Vembu is targeted by the Left
This is not the first time that Sridhar Vembu and Zoho have been attacked by the left-liberal ecosystem. In January 2020, the left cabal ran a boycott campaign against Vembu and Zoho after he was invited as the chief guest at an event organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). However, Vembu refused to bow down to the leftist hounding and said that he would not let his views be affected by Twitter attacks. Vembu’s unapologetic nationalism and his pro-India ideology have placed him on the hit list of the left-liberal media, which is sold to foreign buyers.
