Six Karnataka ministers, who have moved the court for an injunction against the publication or broadcast of any unverified news about them, defended their stand Monday even as Congress demanded their resignation saying they were “morally unfit”.
Shivaram Hebbar, B C Patil, S T Somashekar, K Sudhakar, K C Narayana Gowda and B A Basavaraja (Byrathi) had moved a local court earlier this month and got an injunction.
“As I understand the law, there’s no cause of action at all,” Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said in the Legislative Assembly. “Their (petition) mentions that there are 19 other (sex) CDs that may be released. On this ground, they say there is the cause of action. It’s an imaginary accusation. Without any evidence or provocation, they got the injunction,” he added.
“When they took oath as ministers, they swore to discharge their duties without fear. Why are they afraid if they haven’t done anything wrong? Why did they approach court seeking protection? How will they protect their constituents and people of the state if they themselves feel insecure?” he said, adding that the injunction was akin to anticipatory bail.
The Congress’ point of contention was that the ministers had not approached the police with a complaint. “If they are wary of a conspiracy, why haven’t they lodged a complaint against the conspiracy itself?” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar asked.
Sudhakar hit back at the Congress saying, "We went to court saying unverified news about us shouldn’t be published or telecast,” he said, adding that they were not against the media. “Even Supreme Court judge Swatanter Kumar and Congress MP Naveen Jindal got gag orders," he added.
“We had credible information that we 17 MLAs, who brought down the previous Congress-JD(S) coalition, should be careful as a conspiracy was being planned,” he said. “There’s something called Deep Fake technology with which an image can be used to create a video,” he added.
Hebbar pointed out that in the case of former minister H Y Meti, the inquiry concluded that the CD was fake. “But what was the reparation for the damage that was caused? We’ve done what we had to do to protect ourselves.”
Former speaker K R Ramesh Kumar took a dig at the ministers. “Have you not landed yourselves in a miserable condition? Whoever advised you must be an utter fool or someone masquerading as a well-wisher out to finish you,” he said.