The trio approached the Supreme Court for relief after the Karnataka High Court refused to quash the defamation case filed against them by former MLA BR Patil.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed criminal defamation proceedings against India Today group head Aroon Purie and journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Shiv Aroor over a sting operation aired by the media outlet in 2016 on an alleged cash-for-votes scam [Aroon Purie and ors vs State of Karnataka and anr].
India Today’s report indicated that certain lawmakers in Karnataka were being bribed in exchange for votes ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in 2016.
A criminal defamation case over this report was filed the same year against Arun Poorie, Sardesai and Aroor by former State legislator BR Patil, who was among the legislators accused of improprieties in the sting operation report.
In December 2023, the Karnataka High Court refused to halt these defamation proceedings, prompting an appeal before the Supreme Court.
On Monday, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sought the response of the Karnataka government in the matter while putting the criminal defamation proceedings on hold.
Senior Advocate Dr. S Muralidhar appeared for Purie, Sardesai and Aroor before the Supreme Court.
The High Court’s December 18 order, which has been challenged before the Supreme Court, was passed by Justice R Nataraj.
In his judgment, Justice Nataraj had noted that there were allegations that the accused India Today show-runners had telecast “doctored graphics” and made derogatory remarks against BR Patil.
The High Court concluded that the offence of making a false electronic record to harm the complainant’s reputation, which is punishable under Section 469 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), was prima facie made out.
These allegations required further investigation, the Court had opined while refusing to quash the case.