A Bangalore civil court has asked TV channel Asianet and its subsidiary channel Suvarna News to pay Rs 50 lakhs to Kannada actress and politician Divya Spandana for wrongfully telecasting stories linking her to the Indian Premiere League match fixing scam. The court allowed Spandana’s plea for a permanent injunction against the channels to not associate her to the scam without proof in the future. The case, which has been in court since 2013, was heard on April 26 this year.
The IPL betting case came to light when three cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, were arrested for match fixing in 2013. In its segments, Suvarna News alleged that one of the cricketers charged in the case revealed to the police that two Kannada actresses were involved. Spandana was not named on the show but her photos were shown. In court recently, the counsel representing Asianet and Suvarna News argued that news channels were entitled to broadcast news relating to public events and public figures. They said there was no direct reference to Spandana and no damage was caused to her.
Sessions judge Patil Nagalinganagouda, who presided the court, did not buy this argument. Asianet’s counsel further noted that Spandana was the brand ambassador of Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL team. However, Spandana’s lawyer Pramod Nair said that she was not involved in IPL in 2013 as she was campaigning for the Karnataka assembly elections that year.
Recommended
The sessions judge considered the arguments and held that the persons caught by Delhi and Mumbai police in relation to the scam had not named Spandana to the police. “The court is of the opinion that act of the defendants is in complete violation of journalistic ethics and deliberately to destroy the popularity of the plaintiff and act of the defendant is mala fide with an intention to defame her dignity,” the court ruled, according to Bar and Bench.
The order further said that “reputation is the most valuable asset of a person,” and “when the above said questioned program/still images do have the tendency to destroy such reputation, the injury complained of by the plaintiff would be irreparable.”
Spandana had sought damages of Rs 10 crore from the channels, however, the court has granted Rs 50 lakhs considering the financial status of both Asianet and the actress.
Image Courtesy: News 18