Former CM Siddaramaiah Moves Court Against Media Outlets Over Honey-Trap Allegations
The defamation suit has been filed by former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah before the Bengaluru City Civil and Sessions Court seeking to restrain 42 media organisations, digital platforms and other defendants from publishing or circulating videos allegedly linking him to honey trap controversy.
Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge B Pushpanjali on Monday reserved orders on the application seeking interim directions to take down such offending videos and to restrain them from further publication. The judge will pronounce her order on October 13.
Seeking permanent injunction, Siddaramaiah has also prayed to restrain the defendants from broadcasting publishing or sharing two videos and as well as clips, screenshots transcripts or reports reproducing the allegations contained against him in the two videos.
He has also sought direction to the defendants to take down the videos and referred digital platforms disable access to the contents on their platforms.
Freedom TV Kannada, the YouTube channel Karnataka Honey Trap, several Kannada and English newspapers and television news channels have been named as defendants in the suit along with WhatsApp, YouTube LLC, Google India, Yahoo India and Facebook India.
As per plea, the first video was uploaded by Karnataka Honey Trap on September 27 under the headline/title – “Karnataka Honey Trap Nexus Part 1”.
In this video, Siddaramaiah has been alleged and claimed to have been linked to blackmailing and an alleged honey trap network, “political espionage and revelations about what transpired when Siddaramaiah was Karnataka Chief Minister”.
In its accompanying caption and titles, Karnataka Honey Trap questioned “did Siddaramaiah resign as CM because he was blackmailed?” and that compromising images of Siddaramaiah had forced him to quit.
Terming the allegations as false and baseless, Siddaramaiah has sought protection from their further circulation.
The second publication complained about in the suit is an hour-long programme which was streamed uploaded or aired by Freedom TV Kannada on October 2, 20 26 titled “LIVE: Biggest CD Blast in Karnataka Politics?”.
Plea further says, “The YouTube program teases and sensationalises the controversy by incessantly referring to the CD and the purported arrest of a political leader purportedly linked to it.”
However, the defendants did not display any independently sourced material to verify the allegations against Siddaramaiah they made against him in their publication.
“In between they read out from an alleged conversation recording wherein a woman self identifies that she was sexually exploited when she was minor around year 2011. Thereafter she names Siddaramaiah as that person,” the plaint adds.
It has been alleged that the audio recording of the said conversation was made public only in September this year even though the incident was allegedly about 15 years old.
Further contending that neither does the said material disclose any contemporaneous complaint made to the police or any independent witness statement, Siddaramaiah said it did not refer to any other independently verifiable evidence that can substantiate the said allegations against him.
Arguing that the line of questioning was such that only to draw out answers which were leading to identify the plaintiff as the accused person in the said recording, Siddaramaiah approached the court.
Accompanying political analysis of the videos and timing of publication itself is clearly intended to bring him into public hatred, disrepute was another submission.
Irreparable injury would be caused to the plaintiff if the videos remain available online, as there is every likelihood of the same being rebroadcast, republished as clips, edited versions, circulated in screenshots or discussed in social media posts, it was argued.
Senior Advocate Vikram Huilgol represented Siddaramaiah, the ex- Chief Minister.
The suit was filed by Shathabish Shivanna and Praveen Kamath.
