CD scare: Six ministers get court injunction

BENGALURU: With sleazegate already scalping one minister in the B S Yediyurappa cabinet, six others Shivaram Hebbar, B C Patil, S T Somashekhar, Dr K Sudhakar, Narayana Gowda and Byrathi Basavaraj, on Saturday secured a temporary injunction from a city civil and sessions court restraining the media from telecasting or publishing any news or showing footage and pictures defamatory.

Judge D S Vijaya Kumar passed the order after hearing the interlocutory application filed by the ministers, expressing apprehension that their reputation would be harmed using fake CDs. This came a day after former Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi got a similar injunction order.

The ministers approached the court with a suit to restrain media from publishing or telecasting unverified allegations against them, after reports in a section of media said that there are about 19 CDs on sex scandals related to several MLAs and ministers, including an influential politician from Old Mysuru region.

Sudhakar even hinted that more ministers may approach courts soon seeking similar relief, even as Byrathi Basavaraju remained incommunicado after he reached Mangaluru on Saturday. The development comes two days before the Chief Minister is to present the State Budget on Monday and could put the government in an embarrassing situation.

Issue now in public domain, says DKS

The ministers claimed that Ramesh had to resign as minister because the media published or telecast stories without verifying the source and authenticity of the CD, and that sensationalisation of such reports based on unverified, fake CDs will cause irreparable damage.

“At this stage, as can be seen from printouts of screenshots, the news items are apparently of the nature of sensationalisation of unverified material. Not even a clear foundation is available in the said news reports,” the judge noted, while passing the order.

He was referring to screenshots of news reports on the alleged 19 CDs. Meanwhile, KPCC president D K Shivakumar, who was in Tumakuru on Saturday, told reporters that the issue is now in the public domain. “We will discuss this with our legislators and proceed further,” he said.