Kannada television news channel TV5's claims that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is set to resign from his position has seen the TV channel come under fire. While Kumaraswamy denied the report calling 'far from the truth', his supporters marched to the channel's head office in Bengaluru and pelted stones/
Now, the Janata Dal (Secular) party's Bengaluru unit President R Prakash has registered a complaint against the TV channel for false reporting. In his complaint, Prakash has named Dasharath, a reporter with TV5 and the Chief Editor of the news channel. "This false news was published continuously since 6 pm. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy toured Hassan and Mysuru on November 28 and took part in several events. CM Kumaraswamy is healthy and has been carrying out his day to day activities. He works for 14 to 16 hours a day. However, TV5 Kannada's reporter Dasharath has falsely reported that Kumaraswamy is suffering from health problems, and is trying to create panic among the residents of Karnataka and unnecessarily cause them worry," reads the complaint
The complaint further goes on to add that the story threatened to cause law and order problems in the state. "The Chief Minister's office is a very important one for every state and by spreading such false news, it will disturb the peace in society and cause law and order problems. By creating a black spot in Kumaraswamy's career, this false news has also maligned the reputation of our party (Janata Dal Secular). We suspect that there is an ulterior motive behind the propagation of this false news. We thereby request you to take appropriate action against the TV5 reporter and editor in chief who allowed such news to be published in the channel," it added.
An FIR was registered at the High Grounds Police Station in Bengaluru under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy to commit an offence), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with the intent to provoke a riot), and 505 (statements conducting public mischief).
After the report was aired, protests broke out against the TV channel. The protests were held by JD(S) party workers prompting CM Kumaraswamy to issue a clarification and appeal to his party workers to stop their protests.