Journalists have come out strongly against the Karnataka Assembly Speaker KB Koliwad’s announcing one-year imprisonment and Rs 10,000 penalty each on Ravi Belagere, the editor-in-chief of Kannada weekly tabloid Hai Bangalore, and Anil Raj, the editor of weekly Kannada tabloid Yelahanka Voice. The two journalists were held guilty by a House Privileges Committee of publishing defamatory write-ups against Congress MLA BM Nagaraj, Koliwad himself and BJP MLAS SR Vishwanath. If the two journalists don’t pay the fine, they would have to spend another six months in jail.

The decision to refer the journalists to the house committee instead of a court itself has come in for sharper criticism as a ruse to put the journalists on the mat and disregard the freedom of the press.

While Belagere, 59, got himself admitted to a private hospital in Dharwad about 3 am on Saturday and underwent various check-ups. When this story was being worked upon, a Central Crime Branch team was waiting outside the hospital to get doctors’ clearance to arrest him. Belagere met media persons in the hospital, though, crying foul at the Speaker’s decision. Meanwhile, Raj is nowhere to be found and sources in the police department said a team has been formed to trace him.

Slander

Nagaraj told 101Reporters.com that Hai Bangalore published four articles about him in 2014 without contacting him for a quote. He said the articles not only cast aspersions on his political career without any evidence to back up their claim, but also made accusations against his family. He clarified that while the Assembly doesn’t want to muzzle journalists, there is a need to draw a line.

“These tabloids carried stories against our families, made dirty allegations against them. Why should I keep quiet!”

While 101Reporters.com could not speak with Belagere, one of his reporters Lokesh Koppad said the stories against Nagaraj were about one of his visits to Goa. “The story alleged that he had lost money investing in the cashew business and had also bought a lot of cashew packets, following which he did not even have money to return home and had to borrow money to do so,” he said.

Koppad read out the story to this reporter from Hai Bangalore‘s archives. When requested to share a copy of the article, he started by dilly-dallying and then refused. The story in question was done by a Ballari-based reporter Mallappa Banagar, who quit the tabloid two years ago.

Hai Bangalore

This is not Hai Bangalore‘s first brush with controversy. In 2003, the Press Council of India had examined 46 cases of slanderous journalism in South India and 13 of these complaints were against Belagere’s tabloid. His publication has been accused of carrying stories full of sleaze and sensationalism and using caustic language. He had once had a spat with the editor of a daily over the credits of an exclusive story. The industry has much gossip to share about his alleged sexual exploits, corrupt practices in publishing a story and his connections with certain filmmakers.

In 2007, a magistrate’s court in Ballari had ordered the arrest of Belagere and Koppad after former minister and Congress leader M Diwakar Babu had filed a defamation complaint against them regarding a story Hai Bangalore had carried on the death of a cable operator.

The same year, he was one of the 29 journalists selected by Karnataka Media Academy for its annual awards. He publishes an annual declaration of his assets in his tabloid, giving an account of all the movable and immovable property he owns.

A day before getting admitted to the hospital, he wrote on his Facebook timeline, saying he was unperturbed and that “Great men, writers, men of chaste history have suffered this.”

His full post read:

My dearest friends,

Write against a politician, you will be in jail. That’s the message we got now. “Stop comments all”. If that rule comes what will you do? Still, I am confident and think that democracy is alive in India. Great men, writers, men of chaste history have suffered this. I am personally not disturbed by these judgements as I have been battling. I am 100 % sure of the successful fight. You are with me and join me in the battle. Let’s teach them.”

Groundswell of support

A delegation comprising members of the Bengaluru Reporters’ Guild and the Press Club of Bengaluru met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday to express concern at the unprecedented decision. The Karnataka Union of Working Journalists is mulling on appealing to the Speaker to reconsider the decision.

The New York-based media advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned Karnataka Assembly’s decision, as noted in the popular blog Churumuri. “It’s ridiculous that a journalist should go to jail for mocking a politician,” CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler said from Washington, D.C. “We call on the Karnataka state assembly to reverse the sentences it imposed on Ravi Belagere and Anil Raju immediately and should cease abusing press freedom.”

Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, who heads weekly Kannada tabloid Gauri Lankesh Pathrike, called the Assembly’s decision against Belagere and Raj undemocratic. She herself was sentenced to six months imprisonment and Rs10,000 penalty by a court in Hubbali after Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi and BJP leader Umesh Dushi had filed separate complaints of defamation against two stories her publication had carried. She avoided the arrest by getting an anticipatory bail from the magistrate court. Lankesh said the Privileges Committee is a legacy of the British Raj, adding that nobody in a democracy is special, be it an MP or an MLA.

She said if the elected representatives have any issue with anyone, it should be taken to the right channel, like a court, and let it take a decision. “Taking the issue to the Privileges Committee is undemocratic and hence any order passed by them is itself against the virtues of democracy,” she said.

The Indian Federation of Working Journalists, New Delhi, condemned the decision of the Karnataka assembly.

While questioning the legality of the order, BV Mallikarjunaiah, president (India) of the federation, said, “This action of ordering the arrest of two journalists indicates that they don’t want politicians to be subject to criticism. They have to realise that being a politician or a people’s leader brings them into public eye which means that they will have to face all kinds of allegations and criticism. ”

“The house and the members have been given certain privileges to protect them. To safeguard these privileges, is the duty of the Privilege Committee. Not to ensure that no politician is criticised ever.”

Order’s legitimacy

Bangalore-based human rights lawyer BT Venkatesh explained what the Privileges Committee is and what it is not. He said anything the elected representatives say or do in the house or during a session cannot be held against them as they have certain privileges in the house. The Privilege Committee’s job is to safeguard these interests. He clarified that the committee cannot look into a case or an allegation that has transpired outside the purview of the house.

“In this case, the stories are regarding the acts of the MLAs done outside their dealings in the house. Even though they might allege it to be defamatory, the committee cannot entertain these allegations,” he reasoned.

Further, Venkatesh pointed out that Speaker Koliwad passed a judgment on Privilege Committee’s recommendation on his own complaint. “How can you be a judge in your own case! This is a clear conflict of interest,” he said. The fair practice is for judges to recuse themselves from hearing a case if there is a conflict of interest.

Nevertheless, the seasoned lawyer noted that since the Speaker has judicial powers, the order is valid and the editors can be arrested. He said the duo now has the option of approaching the court to plead their case, but an arrest is imminent.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @Nive_nk