Bengaluru: Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George has now filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Arnab Goswamy and Times Now channel for airing “fake news.”
Arnab Goswamy was the Editor-in-Chief of the Times Now when the controversial report in connection with IAS officer D K Ravi’s death case was aired by the channel on March 23, 2015.
The then home minister George was targeted as the main accused in the news. The video of the same was also made viral on social media.
Recently CBI submitted its chargesheet in D K Ravi’s case and in the final report it was confirmed that it was a suicide.
The case came for hearing on July 26 at the 10th ACMM Court and it has been adjourned till August 19.
According to the complaint, the “sly and blatantly false innuendoes and statements” made by Goswami on Times Now Super Prime Time “were false, malicious, and was a defamatory campaign and propaganda to insinuate KJ George having a vested interest in DK Ravi’s death.”
An FIR was filed at the Jeevan Bhima Nagar Police Station, after which the complaint was submitted to the 10th Additional District Magistrate Court under sections 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, read along with sections 34 and 35 of the IPC.
“The well-respected IAS officer, DK Ravi, died on March 16, 2015. Just a day later, Arnab Goswami, without proper investigation, declared his death to be a murder and accused K J George, who was the then Home Minister, of being involved in DK Ravi’s death, of running a mafia and destroying evidence. This amounts to interfering in the judicial process and hence the complaint was filed today,” Minister George’s lawyer, Ajesh Kumar Shankar, was quoted as saying by a news portal.
(Agencies)