K'taka ministers approach court on sleaze CD case

Bengaluru, March 6 Days after former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarkiholi's alleged 'sleaze CD' surfaced, several incumbent ministers have moved a city court here, seeking to restrain media organisations from publishing or airing any 'defamatory or unauthenticated' material against them.

The six ministers of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's government who moved the court on Friday night are Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar, Agriculture Minister B. C. Patil, Cooperative Minister S.T. Somashekar, Health K. Sudhakar, Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister K. C. Narayana Gowda and Urban Development Minister Byrathi Basavaraj.

After hearing their joint plea, the additional city civil sessions judge reserved his order, which is expected to be delivered on Saturday.

Karnataka Health minister, K. Sudhakar tweeted about this past midnight on Friday.

His three part tweet in Kannada read that the ministers moved court amid apprehensions of a political conspiracy being hatched to defame "some ministers who are working honestly".

"By the time truth crawls out of the doorsill, lie would travel across the town. This age old axiom holds true even today. We have earned a good reputation, best name and standing in society through building our character strenuously after working hard for several years. But, if someone wants to defame it in a matter of seconds, therefore, we have approached the court," he said quoting a Kannada proverb.

He added that while people like them who want to serve people with 'utmost honesty' had to face such problems too.

"We have to face it and we don't have any options. Nevertheless, our 'conscience is clear' and as long as people's blessings are on us no conspiracy can succeed against us. We have all the faith in our judicial system," the minister said.

These ministers approaching court seeking ex-parte restraining order assumes significance in the wake of RTI activist Dinesh Kallahalli making startling revelations that he was in possession of 'CDs' containing even more sensational content of three persons including one minister and two other important personalities.

Kallahalli is the one who released a CD that shows Jarkiholi getting intimate with a unknown woman by luring her a government job on Tuesday after filing a complaint with Bengaluru City police commissioner.

After the release of this CD, Jarkiholi was forced to quit the Cabinet on Wednesday just a day ahead of month long budget session was to commence from Thursday after a 'sleaze CD' of him in a compromising position with a woman went viral on news channels.

Jarkiholi too has succeeded in getting injunction from Bengaluru sessions court barring the media including Youtube, Facebook and Google from showing/telecasting/retelecasting any content of the alleged 'sleaze CD' featuring or naming him.

nbh/pgh

( With inputs from IANS )