Jarkiholi Row: Relief for B’luru Ministers, Court Restrains Media

The move comes after Jarkiholi tendered his resignation in the wake of an alleged sex scandal CD.

The minister has termed the video as fake saying, “I don’t even know that lady and the complainant.”

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

A Bengaluru court on Saturday, 6 March, issued a temporary injunction against 68 media houses restraining them from telecasting or publishing any unverified news items, defamatory contents or CDs against the six state ministers of the BS Yediyurappa-led government in Karnataka, reported Live Law.

The ministers include Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar, Agriculture Minister BC Patil, Cooperative Minister ST Somashekar, Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister KC Narayana Gowda, and Urban Development Minister Bhyrathi Basavaraj.

These ministers had moved the court seeking the restrain on the media from publishing any defamatory or unauthenticated material against them, after Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi tendered his resignation in the wake of an alleged ‘sex scandal’ CD.

The order was passed by Additional City Civil Judge DS Vijaya Kumar.

The six ministers, who moved the court seeking the restrain, had rebelled against the Congress-JD(S) government in the state and joined the BJP in 2019.

The Alleged ‘Sex Scandal’

Ramesh Jarkiholi resigned from his post on Wednesday, 3 March, in the wake of an alleged 'sex scandal' CD that put the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state in a spot.

In his resignation letter to the CM, Jarkiholi reportedly said the allegation against him was far from the truth. "As fair investigation should take place, I'm resigning on moral grounds," he wrote.

On Tuesday, a social activist Dinesh Kallahalli filed a police complaint against the state Water Resources Minister.

Kallahalli, in his complaint, stated that Jarkiholi allegedly sought sexual favours from the woman in return of a promise of a government job. The woman had approached Kallihalli after the BJP minister allegedly threatened her, reported TNM.

"We have taken a petition and started an inquiry. We need to ascertain certain details and enquire about the victim first. The RTI activist has not given any information regarding them. We are trying to ascertain who they are and are trying to contact them," MN Anunchet, Bengaluru Central DCP, told The News Minute. The report quoted the police as saying that the complainant has not revealed the identity of the woman in the CD or the source of the video.

(With inputs from PTI and Live Law.)