A Karnataka court on Saturday restrained 67 media entities from broadcasting or publishing defamatory contents of alleged sex tape involving six Karnataka BJP ministers apart from former water resources minister Ramesh Jarkiholi.
Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Abdulrahiman A. Nandgadi granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of the six ministers and restrained media houses from publishing or telecasting in a negative or sarcastic manner, contents of the CD which led to the scandal. However, the order clarified that the media houses can publish authenticated and true news on the subject after verification without making defamatory remarks against the six ministers.
The six ministers are Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar, Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil, Cooperation Minister H.T. Somashekhar, Health and Family Welfare, and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, Municipal Administration minister K.C. Narayan Gowda and and Urban Development Minister Byrati Basavaraj.
The six ministers had moved the court after Jarkiholi resigned from his post taking moral responsibility after being accused of demanding sexual favours from an unidentified woman in exchange for a government job.
A CD in this regard was leaked, which ultimately resulted in Jarkholi’s resignation. In the CD, a man resembling the minister with an unnamed woman has gone viral and had been aired by TV news channels in
In a complaint filed with Bengaluru Police, social activist Dinesh Kalahalli had claimed that the minister had sought sexual favours from the woman seen in the video. After the footage went viral, Jarkiholi resigned on Wednesday.
The six ministers prayed that the media should be prevented from airing or publishing any defamatory or unauthenticated content about them in relation to the CD. All the six were part of the 17 rebel MLAs who had resigned from the Karnataka Assembly in July 2019 leading to the fall of Congress-JD(S) government and paving the way for the B.S. Yediyurappa-led BJP government to come to power in the state.
The 68 media entities, include dailies, weeklies, tabloids, TV channels, social media and websites, were arraigned as defendants. Since one of the defendants had filed a caveat, no order was passed against the said defendant. The matter will be heard next on March 18.