Bengaluru, Jul 2 (DHNS): The High Court of Karnataka on Saturday directed the editors of two Kannada magazines, who have been sentenced by the Legislative Assembly, to appear before the Speaker at 3 pm on Monday.

Ravi Belagere, editor of Kannada weekly ‘Hai Bangalore,’ and Anil Raj of ‘Voice of Yelahanka’ have been sentenced to one-year jail term and slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 for breach of privilege of two MLAs - K B Koliwad (Assembly Speaker) and S Vishwanath of the BJP.

Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri advised the petitioners’ counsel Shankarappa to withdraw the petition, compelling him to file a memo (summary) giving an undertaking to appear before the Speaker.

The judge even dictated the memo, “The petitioners seek leave of the court to withdraw these petitions with the liberty to submit a petition to the Speaker for reconsidering the matter and reviewing the resolution. They undertake to appear before the Speaker on July 3 at 3 pm. Further, they (the editors) request that liberty be reserved to them to seek “revival” of the petition (resolution adopted in the Assembly) if need be.”

Quashing of resolution

Justice Hinchigeri dismissed the petition as it was withdrawn by the petitioners. The editors had moved the court seeking quashing of the resolution adopted by the Assembly.

Shankarappa pleaded before the judge to direct the government not to arrest his clients when they appear before the Speaker and to put these (not to arrest) words in the order.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) A S Ponnanna, appearing for the Speaker, submitted to the court that they would not arrest the editors.

The judge, refusing to add any more words in his order, said as the AAG had assured the court that there would be no arrest, the petitioners can be rest assured.

In a democratic way

Justice Hinchigeri, however, mentioned that if the editors face any problems, they can approach him at any time. The judge warned the editors not to disobey the orders and to refrain from the use of ‘below the belt’ words in their writings. He advised the editors to take journalism forward in a democratic way.

Belagere discharged from hospital

Belagere was discharged from the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital on Saturday, reports DHNS from Hubballi.

He told mediapersons he had written a letter to Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad, urging him to withdraw the sentence.

“I will appear before Koliwad on July 3 and try to convince him. It seems Koliwad was misguided in this case. I was not aware of the notices issued by the privileges committee,” he said.

Trying to attack the media and muzzle the voice of journalists through such acts is not correct, he said.
Doctors at KIMS said Belagere’s health had improved a lot and so, he was discharged from hospital on his request.