FIR: H D Kumaraswamy’s new weapon to muzzle Press?

Bengaluru: In a move that has shocked the journalistic community and marks a low point in the continuing feud between the political class and the media, an FIR has been registered against the editor-in-chief of a Kannada newspaper for publishing a 'defamatory' article in his newspaper about Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Nikhil was an MP candidate, who contested and lost from Mandya to actor Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent candidate backed by BJP, by over one lakh votes.  

The Srirampura police have booked Vishweshwar Bhat, the editor-in-chief of Vishwavani, under various sections of Indian Penal Code after a complaint was filed against him, accusing him of publishing “derogatory remarks” against Nikhil on the front page of Saturday's edition.

The complainant Pradeep Kumar S.P., general secretary of the JD(S) Legal Cell, stated in his complaint that the article was derogatory, fictitious and brought disrepute to Nikhil and his grandfather and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda.

The article allegedly went on to claim that an angry and drunk Nikhil kicked up a ruckus at the hotel and yelled at his grandfather, holding the Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch responsible for his embarrassing loss in Mandya.

"In spite of having eight MLAs, we were not able to win. Didn't H.D. Revanna gain the support of Congress in Hassan? Why weren't you able to gain the support of Congress rebels Cheluvarayaswamy and Narendra Swamy?...It is a humiliation that I have lost to a woman. Mandya's people have not held my hand. My dream of being an MP did not come true," the article read.

On Sunday, strongly rubbishing the claims in the Vishwavani article, Pradeep approached Srirampura police and lodged a complaint against Mr. Bhat saying no such incident had happened in the hotel and the article was published with intent to tarnish the image of Nikhil and bring disrepute to his family.

The police have booked Mr. Bhat under under IPC sections 499, 500, 501 (defamation), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 468 (forgery).  

It’s a vendetta: Bhat

Mr Bhat meanwhile, speaking to Deccan Chronicle, said that there was a desperate attempt from the government to get him arrested and put him behind bars at least for one day.

“This must be for the first time a police complaint has been filed in connection with an article published in the newspaper. The police too was in hurry to book me under irrelevant IPC sections. Not everyone agrees with what we write. If someone feels something defamatory is published against them, there are proper channels to get an action initiated. There is a press council, a court of law but this police complaint only shows their despiration and their personal vendetta against me,” Mr. Bhat said.  

Mr. Bhat also pointed out that the police had booked him under IPC sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 468 (forgery) and wondered how all these sections could be applied in this case.  He further said that while the article has appeared on Saturday, an article    that ran Nikhil Kumaraswamy's counter was carried the very next day.

Social media outrage

As soon the news of FIR against Mr. Bhat spread, it sparked an uproar in the social media platforms with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and supporters defending Mr. Bhat and accusing the state government of curtailing freedom of speech by such acts.

 Several other BJP leaders including B.L. Santhosh, CT Ravi, and Arvind Limbavali also took to social media to term the police action against the well known Kannada journalist as 'Emergency in Karnataka'.

The BJP leaders and supporters demanded case be withdrawn against Mr. Bhat.