The High Court of Karnataka has directed the police to return the login credentials of the Facebook and YouTube accounts of Power TV and has held that the channel is entitled to get back seized equipment required to telecast its programmes by following due process of law before the trial court.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while partly allowing the petition filed by Rakesh Shetty, Managing Director of M/s Power Smart Media (OPC) Pvt. Ltd., which operates Power TV channel, Bengaluru.
Investigation to continue
However, the court declined to quash at this stage the complaint registered against Mr. Shetty while stating that allegations and counter allegations by and against the petitioner require investigation.
The High Court asked the petitioner to file application for release of seized digital equipment while pointing out that the equipment could be returned to the TV channel after collecting necessary data from them for investigation as per the law.
The petitioner had questioned the legality of registration of the case based on a complaint lodged by civil contractor Chandrakantha Ramalingam on September 24 and seizure of equipment required to operate the channel and changing of login credentials of social media accounts of the channel after securing them for the purpose of investigation.
The channel had claimed that the complaint was lodged after the channel telecast programmes from September 2 onwards “exposing” alleged corruption by family members of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, including his son B.Y. Vijayendra. The channel, in its programme, had alleged that family members of Mr. Yediyurappa had received ₹12 crore “bribe” from Mr. Ramalingam for releasing ₹140 crore due to him from the Bangalore Development Authority for carrying out civil works.
It was claimed in the petition that Mr. Ramalingam had lodged the complaint against the petitioner at the instance of the family members of Mr. Yediyurappa after the channel aired the programmes.
Interestingly, the petitioner claimed that it was Mr. Ramalingam himself who had voluntarily shared his WhatsApp chats with the Chief Minister’s family members in relation to demand made for ₹12 crore and payment received by a family member.
Ramalingam’s complaint
However, Mr. Ramalingam, in his complaint, alleged that Mr. Shetty in June this year had offered him to get payment from BDA using his connections as he [Mr. Shetty] was working in the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Mr. Shetty received ₹25 lakh payment in cash as commission after BDA in June released ₹7.79 crore of the ₹140 crore, and he was surprised to watch the programme against the Chief Minister’s family on the channel, the complainant alleged.
However, the petitioner said he neither claimed that he was working in the office of Mr. Shah nor discussed about payments pending from BDA with the complainant or received any commission.
