The trend of obtaining gag orders from courts gained momentum after former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi was forced to resign from the cabinet following the leak and telecast of his private videos by news channels.
Published Aug 28, 2024 | 10:26 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 28, 2024 | 10:32 PM
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.(bsbommai/Twitter)
Former Karnataka chief minister and Haveri MP Basavaraj Bommai obtained a temporary injunction on Wednesday, 28 August, against defamatory content in the media and social media. He is the latest addition to the growing list of BJP leaders in Karnataka who have sought court relief to silence media. The court has instructed the defendant to refrain from posting ‘defamatory material’ and remove such material already posted, in 24 hours.
Basavaraj Bommai, who served as chief minister between July 2021 and May 2023, approached a Bengaluru Civil and Sessions Court whose order restrains 52 media houses and social media platforms from publishing and telecasting defamatory content, until the next date of hearing, 9 September.
Bommai sought Rs 1 crore damages from advocate KN Jagadeesh, who claimed in a video posted on social media site “X”, formerly “Twitter”, that he had private and intimate videos of Bommai from the time he served as chief minister, proving that he had abused his office.
This development highlights the frequent resort to court-ordered gagging by Karnataka BJP leaders, with at least 13 prominent figures, including former Union Ministers and MLAs, obtaining similar injunctions in the past decade.
It is pertinent to note here that even former MP and JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna had obtained an injunction from the court against media coverage of the videos that suddenly circulated at the time of the Lok Sabha elections. The former MP has since been arrested. Prajwal Revanna is accused of sexually abusing several women and filming the act without their consent.
Basavaraj Bommai approached the Bengaluru court seeking an injunction after advocate Jagadeesh N claimed on social media that he had intimate videos of Bommai; the claims went viral on social media.
Bommai is represented by former Advocate General (AG) and senior advocate Prabhuling K Navadagi. Advocate KN Jagadeesh has been named as the primary respondent in the two suits filed by the former chief minister.
The Bengaluru court also directed the removal of content posted by handles Gururaj Anjan (@Anjan94150697) and C Krishna (@ChekrishnaCk) on social media platforms within 24 hours.
Several people had retweeted the video from Jagadeesh, giving his claims wide publicity.
An FIR was registered against advocate KN Jagadeesh at the Yeshwanthpur Police Station on 24 August, alleging defamation, extortion, and circulation of morphed videos on social media.
The complaint, filed by BJP party worker Prashanth Jadhav, accuses Jagadeesh of recording a video making false and unsubstantiated accusations against former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and other respected individuals.
Jagadeesh has been booked under the various sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2007.
In his complaint, Prashanth Jadhav alleged: “Jagadeesh claimed that a former chief minister was involved in unsavoury activities & other such (sic) as videos circulating on social media.”
“He further makes allegations against various reputed and distinguished members of the society stating that they have breached their office by conducting themselves unethically. He goes on to threaten the people in the video and state that he will cause harm to their reputation,” Jadhav stated in his complaint, alleging that the photographs and videos are morphed.
Jadhav claimed that it was a case of extortion, and the intention of circulating the videos was to create fear and bring disrepute to people who have “a long history of exceptional public life”. Jadhav has also claimed that advocate Jagadeesh has prior history of contempt of court. This reporter could not verify if this claim was accurate.
The police have reportedly called advocate Jagadeesh for an enquiry in this matter.
This is only the latest in a string of such orders from the court in the past decade. At least thirteen BJP leaders, including former union minister Sadananda Gowda and Bijapur city MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, have got injunction orders from the court against the media, restraining them from publishing content that is supposedly defamatory.
The trend of obtaining gag orders from courts gained momentum after former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi was forced to resign his cabinet position following the leak and telecast of his private videos by news channels. Subsequently, Jarkiholi secured an injunction order restraining the publication of defamatory content.
Following this, six of the then cabinet ministers of the BJP, Dr K Sudhakar, Shivaram Hebbar, BC Patil, ST Somashekar, Narayana Gowda and Byrati Basavaraj, were quick to get gag orders from the court.
Former Union Minister Sadananda Gowda, who also served as chief minister of Karnataka, and MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, and BJP’s Karnataka unit vice-president and former minister Murugesh Nirani are other leaders who have got such an injunction, restraining the media.
Former MLA Madal Virupakshappa, who represented Channagiri, was accused of corruption during his stint as chairman of Karnataka Soap and Detergents Limited. He too obtained an injunction order that prevented the media from publishing reports against him.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas)
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