Bengaluru, Oct 13 A Bengaluru court on Tuesday issued an interim injunction on a plea by former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking to restrain the publication and circulation of a video he alleged was defamatory.
The 19th Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, B Pushpanjali, passed an ex parte interim order restraining the defendants from telecasting, rebroadcasting, publishing, uploading, transmitting, circulating, sharing or otherwise disseminating the video through any medium.
“Issue ad-interim ex parte temporary injunction order against defendants restraining them, their proprietors, editors, directors, officers, employees, agents, representatives, assigns and all persons claiming through or under them from telecasting, retelecasting, broadcasting, publishing, republishing, uploading, transmitting, circulating, sharing, hosting or otherwise disseminating, in any manner or through any medium whatsoever, the impugned video,” the order said.
Siddaramaiah said he had approached the court against what he described as a “campaign of disinformation” targeting him.
His son, Karnataka Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, dismissed the video as fake, alleging that it was intended to tarnish his father’s image.
In a statement, Siddaramaiah said he had lodged a complaint with the City Police Commissioner seeking an impartial investigation into the matter.
“I have noticed that my name is being linked to a sting operation video that has been circulating on various social media platforms over the past few days, with a campaign of disinformation being carried out against me. This appears to be a clear attempt at character assassination driven by political malice,” he said.
Siddaramaiah denied having any connection with the video and alleged that certain people were using it to malign him.
He urged the media and the public to refrain from circulating what he described as false information.
Expressing confidence in his innocence, the veteran Congress leader said the people of Karnataka were familiar with his five-decade-long political career, which he described as an open book.
“However, in this age of modern technology, it has become easy to portray falsehood as truth,” he said.
“It is in this context that I have approached the court as a precautionary measure. Beyond that, I have nothing to fear. I am confident that truth will ultimately prevail,” he added.
Siddaramaiah said he firmly supported freedom of expression and had never obstructed the media from exercising it.
“However, given the misuse of this freedom by certain media outlets, circumstances have compelled me to seek an injunction through the court to restrain the publication and broadcast of the video. I regret that the situation has come to this,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Siddaramaiah said, “There was false publicity against me on social media. Hence, I am seeking an injunction.”
Yathindra said a complaint had been filed seeking action against those responsible for circulating the video.
“They are spreading false propaganda. Can we simply sit back and watch?” he asked, adding that people unaware of the facts might believe the video was genuine.
“This is not a sting operation but a conspiracy to spread false propaganda and tarnish someone’s image,” Yathindra said, rejecting suggestions that the video constituted a sting operation.
Asked whether politics had reached a point where leaders needed to seek court intervention, Yathindra said even his father, a veteran Congress leader, was being targeted with false allegations.
“Politics today has sunk to such a low level that even a senior leader like Siddaramaiah has to face such false allegations,” he said.
Yathindra said his father had informed him about the video as soon as it surfaced and told him that he intended to file a complaint.
“I told him to go ahead and file the complaint after taking legal advice,” he said.
Asked whether the developments had left him disappointed with the system, Yathindra said there was no reason to feel bad if one had done nothing wrong.
“One should feel bad only if one has done something wrong,” he said.
“What can we do about the system? The system is in a bad state today. Once we enter politics, we have to face whatever comes our way,” he added.
(PTI News)
