Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (MS)
Beltangady, Oct 26: The Supreme Court quashed the petition of Nagarika Seva Trust president Somanath Nayak with regard to the case of giving public statement defaming Dr Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala and the other organizations affiliated to it.
Earlier, the Beltangady civil court had prohibited Somanath Nayak and five others from making statements against Dharmasthala and titse Dharmadhikari and five others. However, they continued writing derogatory statements on social media. Later, Somanath Nayak was sentenced to three months imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 4.5 lac. His property was also confiscated.
Somnath Nayak had appealed against the verdict of the civil court of Beltangady. It had also issued an arrest warrant and ordered three months imprisonment. Somanath Nayak submitted a writ petition against the order in the high court. However, the high court quashed his appeal. As a last resort, Nayak had moved the Supreme Court.
The supreme court, which heard the arguments of both the parties on October 19, said that there was no reason for it to intervene in the orders passed by Beltangady civil court and Karnataka high court. It also opined that the petitioner constantly violated the prohibitory orders and continued posting derogatory comments and quashed his petition.