May 02, 2024 07:38 AM IST
On April 26, Kanthesh filed a petition to the 6th city civil court and sessions court of Bengaluru to impose a ban on media disseminating any defamatory content
KE Kanthesh, son of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa, has obtained a stay order from the court restraining 50 media houses from publishing any kind of defamatory text or video clips on him.
This came days after videos purportedly showing sexual acts by Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna with multiple women went viral, leading to the state government setting up a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate into the matter.
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Kanthesh, who was keen to contest the Lok Sabha election from Haveri constituency, was denied the BJP ticket as the party nominated former chief minister Basavaraja Bommai from the seat. Eashwarappa is contesting as an independent from Shivamogga constituency against B Y Raghavendra, son of former chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa,
On April 26, Kanthesh filed a petition to the 6th city civil court and sessions court of Bengaluru to impose a ban on media disseminating any defamatory content. In response, the court issued an interim restraining order on Tuesday, prohibiting the broadcast of any material deemed defamatory, thereby curbing the potential damage to Kanthesh’s reputation amid the Lok Sabha elections.
The court issued the stay order on more than 50 media houses from publishing any kind of defamatory topic.
Kanthesh’s advocate M Vinod Kumar said: “Our main aim is to file a petition in court to prevent any kind of dishonourable news story against my client. An unknown person called my client four days ago and sent a morphed video of my client and a woman. He pressed him to pay money. He even threatened that the video clips would be given to the media houses, and his (Kanthesh) reputation would be spoiled if the amount was not paid. We approached the court to safeguard the interests of the client and, moreover, to protect his reputation.”
When asked why a police complaint was not filed against the blackmailer, the counsel said, “We will file a complaint against the unknown blackmailer soon.”
Reacting to the matter, Eshwarappa, in Byndoor in Udupi, said: “In light of recent developments, it is evident that there are concerted efforts to thwart our progress and besmirch our reputation through devious means. This is a calculated attempt to undermine our integrity and derail our campaign. How do we combat such underhanded politics? We respond with resolve and resilience. That’s why we have sought a restraining order to thwart these attempts at character assassination. There is no other agenda at play here.”
Shivamogga district Congress president Prasanna Kumar said, “I suspect those who obtain such orders from the court might be the ones who are guilty… If they were blackmailed, they should file a police complaint first, but not filing a complaint raises suspicion.”
