The Karnataka High Court has instructed the police not to take any coercive measures against TV news anchor Sudhir Chaudhary about an FIR filed against him and news channel Aaj Tak for allegedly broadcasting false news about the Karnataka government’s Swawalambi Sarathi scheme until September 20. Chaudhary’s news report on Aaj Tak was said to suggest that the scheme was an example of minority appeasement by the present Congress-led State government, with Hindus being deprived of the incentives offered by the scheme. Justice Hemant Chandangoudar has indicated that he will give his verdict on the case next Wednesday and asked the police to refrain from coercive measures against Chaudhary in the meantime. He has also said that Chaudhary’s petition could be dismissed even if only a prima facie case is made against him. The judge has opined that there is no need to question the anchor in custody as all the necessary information is already in the public domain. The Court has also said that it does not want the matter to remain unresolved for long. It has been suggested that the news report may need to be investigated to determine whether it had incited hatred against any religion. Chaudhary was represented by Senior Advocate Uday Holla, who questioned whether it could be considered hate speech if a person speaks about the discrimination they face. The FIR was registered under Sections 153A and 505 of the IPC, and it was filed based on a September 11 news program aired on Aaj Tak. The plea by Chaudhary stated that any questions raised by the media against the government should not lead to criminal cases. The plea added that mens rea was absent in the case as there was no intention to promote any enmity between groups of people. Therefore, the criminal case cannot stand.
Written by B. Krishna nikhitha of KL University Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh ( 5th semester )an intern under Legal Vidhiya
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