[8] According Manu Joseph, the magazine's proprietor, Sanjiv Goenka, felt that Bal's writings and appearances on television were resulting in him "making a lot of ... political enemies.

Citing several instances of "press censorship", including the controversial firing of Hartosh Singh Bal, a July 2014 editorial in the New York Times commented that:Press censorship seems to be back with a vengeance in India, this time imposed not by direct government fiat but by powerful private owners and politicians.

[14] After his exit in 2016, Manas Mohan was appointed in his place but left after nine months and was replaced by Ashok Bindra in 2017.

A report in The Indian Express in April 2012 concerning government apprehension about army movements[16] was criticised in OPEN by the then editorial chairman of Outlook, Vinod Mehta, in an interview with Hartosh Singh Bal.

[17][18] In 2014, after Bal, Joseph, and Rahul Pandita had left, the magazine issued a clarification and expressed regret for the Mehta column.