FIR against editor of Kannada daily, scribe to seek legal remedies

Bengaluru police have filed an FIR against Vishweshwar Bhat, the editor of Kannada daily Vishwavani, for allegedly publishing derogatory remarks against Nikhil, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

The FIR was registered on a complaint filed by General Secretary of the Legal Cell of Janata Dal (Secular) Pradeep Kumar S.P. here on Sunday.

The complainant stated that the news item on an alleged heated conversation between Nikhil, who recently lost Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, and his grandfather--JD(S) party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, was meant to tarnish Nikhil's political career and to extract money.

No such incident as reported had taken place, and the whole news item was a figment of imagination, the complainant claimed.

Speaking to ANI, Bhat said he will seek legal remedies as he is "100 per cent sure" of not doing anything wrong.

"I will seek legal remedies. I have not taken anticipatory bail for the case because I am 100 per cent convinced that I have not committed any crime. Let them arrest me if they want to," he said.

Bhat went on to say that it is not possible for media to be controlled, especially in the digital age.

"It is a dangerous trend for democracy and you cannot control the media as social media is so active these days," he noted.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy was defeated by Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of late former Congress lawmaker MH Ambareesh. She created history by becoming the first independent candidate to successfully contest Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka in 52 years.

According to the Election Commission of India (EC), Sumalatha got 51.02 per cent vote share (701122 votes), while Nikhil came second with 41.89 per cent vote share (575740 votes).