Amid massive outrage over “misuse of privilege” by Karnataka legislators, Bengaluru police on Saturday arrived in Dharwad to arrest Ravi Belagere, editor of Kannada tabloid 'Hai Bangalore', charged with breach of privilege.
Last Wednesday, in an unprecedented move, Karnataka assembly Speaker K.B. Koliwad sentenced two journalists of Kannada tabloids—Ravi Belagere of 'Hai Bangalore' and Anil Raju of 'Yelahanka Voice'—to a year in jail for breach of privilege by writing defamatory articles against legislators including Koliwad. Apart from the jail term, the speaker also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of them, failing which the jail term would be extended by another six months.
Belagere, who is under observation at SDM hospital in Dharwad, said the police had arrived at his farm house in Joida in Uttara Kannada to arrest him. But as he suffered from uneasiness and chest pain, he was admitted to the hospital. “I will fight back and appeal before the High Court and the Supreme Court,” told Belagere, who has applied for an anticipatory bail.
Interestingly, the controversial article against Koliwad was published back in September 2014 in 'Hai Bangalore', and Koliwad, who was only an MLA, along with B.M. Nagaraj and S.R. Vishwanath had complained to then speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, who referred the matter to a committee chaired by former minister Kimmane Ratnakar.
The assembly recently passed a resolution on breach of privilege against the journalists based on the recommendation made by the committee.
The imprisonment of journalists for alleged breach of privilege is unheard of, as the House has always upheld freedom of the press, said senior members of the assembly. Many recalled that journalists were let off with an admonition. However, the current dispensation trying to rein in the media, first by setting up a panel to tame the media (though legislators backed out of the panel) and now by attempting to jail the editors, has created a furore in both political and media circles in Bengaluru and caught global attention too.
