The Karnataka High Court, on Friday, September 15, observed that there is a “prima facie case” for investigation against Aaj Tak news anchor Sudhir Chaudhary for allegedly spreading misinformation through his reporting on the Karnataka government’s commercial vehicle subsidy scheme. Chaudhary and Aaj Tak channel on Thursday, approached the High Court, seeking to quash the FIR against the news anchor, who has been booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 505 (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Hearing the case, a single judge bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar, did not consider Chaudary’s plea but asked the Karnataka police to not take coercive steps against him till Tuesday, September 19.
On his show, Chaudhary had tried to communalise the scheme by highlighting an advertisement of the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation that promised a subsidy on the purchase of commercial vehicles to poor people from religious minorities. He claimed that the scheme was “discriminatory” as it was denied to Hindus, while failing to mention that the same scheme could be availed by members of SC, ST and OBC communities.
“Role of the media is to provide information but this is not the information to be provided. It is not that benefits are given only to minorities; even to corporate entities also, it is not only confined to minorities,” the High Court said on Friday.
Following Chaudary’s disinformation on television, the Seshadripuram police in Bengaluru registered an FIR against him.
During the hearing, Advocate General K Shashi Kiran Shetty, who appeared for the prosecution argued that statements made by the anchor in his programme are trying to bring about enmity between two communities. The advocate general also informed the court that the news channel had not withdrawn the controversial statements.
The Court ended the hearing for the day by directing the police not to take any “precipitative” action till Tuesday and that there is no need for any custodial interrogation.