Karnataka High Court quashes fake news case against journalist Arnab Goswami

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 13 (ANI): The Karnataka High Court on Thursday passed a judgement in favour of renowned journalist Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Republic News and quashed the case filed by the Bengaluru Police last year. The case was filed following accusations that Goswami broadcast a false news report about the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
The bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna has passed the order in the matter. A detailed order is awaited in the matter.
In December 2024, the Karnataka High Court had put a hold on the criminal proceedings initiated by the Karnataka police against journalist Goswami. During the issuance of the interim order to halt the investigation against the Republic TV editor-in-chief, the court referred to the filing of the FIR as a "reckless registration of a crime."
The case was filed based on a complaint by an office bearer of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
Bengaluru police registered a case against Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, and the editor of R Kannada, the Kannada news channel of the same group. The allegations claim that they aired a fake news report about Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The report supposedly created or promoted enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes, leading to the duo being booked under Section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.
The allegation was that on March 27, 2024, at approximately 7:15 pm, the R Kannada channel had broadcast a news story claiming that traffic on MG Road in Bengaluru was halted to allow the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's convoy to pass, which consequently caused an ambulance to be stuck.
Following the order, Goswami said, "State governments must understand that they are destined to lose when they file frivolous cases and malicious cases. The Uddhav (Thackery) government has lost, the Sidaramamaiah government has lost and the Mamata government will also lose." (ANI)