Rajdeep's departure comes two days before the new Network18 management is slated to be announced. His wife, deputy editor Sagarika Ghose quit the channel yesterday.

This is her farewell letter to her staff...

Hi there folks,

I never thought I would be writing this mail.

CNNIBN has not only been an integral part of my life for almost every waking minute these past years, but more important, working with you has been a joy and an honour. But now--after almost a quarter century in journalism, among them  9 fabulous years at CNNIBN--I leave to try my hand at something a little more challenging and creative, explore new vistas in reportage and commentary.

At CNN-IBN, an incredible team of professionals brought total commitment and integrity to reporting the news. We put journalism first and because of that we became a trusted and much loved brand. A free fearless press is the infrastructure of democracy--without it the term "citizenship" is diminished indeed.

The words of John Tusa, the venerable former director general of BBC World Service come to me: "Journalists cannot become the outriders of authority...but the freedom we have is the freedom to be responsible."

CNN-IBN was always free and responsible! That's why it became such an incredible success, so beloved of viewers. We created magic and that magic touched millions of lives, and the magic will remain with each of us always!

Goodbye is an unhappy word. I prefer au revoir.. until we meet again.

Warmest wishes and all the very best of luck always,

Sagarika