Bengaluru court restrains media from publishing defamatory content in Dharmasthala burial case
Bengaluru, Jul 21 (PTI): A Bengaluru court has issued a restraining order against multiple media houses and YouTube channels, barring them from sharing defamatory content against Harshendra Kumar D, brother of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade, in connection with the alleged burial of bodies at Dharmasthala.
The order follows a defamation suit filed by the Secretary of Sri Manjunathaswamy Temple, after media reports surfaced citing allegations by a sanitation worker that he was forced by temple supervisors to bury several bodies. The worker, however, did not name Kumar or his family.
X Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge Vijaya Kumar Rai noted the potential reputational harm and stated that such allegations, even if false, could severely impact the temple, its institutions, and students.
"...when an allegation is made against the institution, and temple, it affects a wider range of people including the employees and students who are studying in various colleges and schools. Therefore, even a single false and defamatory publication would seriously affect the functioning of the institutions," the order stated.
The court also directed the removal or de-indexing of defamatory content already online.
Kumar submitted a list of 8,842 defamatory links, including thousands of YouTube videos, Facebook and Instagram posts, news articles, and social media posts.
He argued that no FIR named him or the temple's institutions, and one prior case had resulted in acquittal.
Emphasising the need to balance free speech with protection from defamation, the court stated this was an exceptional case of baseless allegations.
A John Doe order was also passed to cover unidentified individuals. The matter is set to be heard next on August 5.
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Bangladesh court sentences Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in corruption cases
Dhaka (PTI): A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project.
Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment — five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported.
The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.
The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm.
Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment — two years in each case — while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in both cases.
Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in each case, totalling two years.
The court also fined all convicted persons Tk1 lakh each and ordered them to serve an additional six months in prison in default of payment.
Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.
The cases were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged abuse of power in the allocation of two 10-katha plots.
According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the allocation process and violated existing rules and regulations of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
