Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has filed a defamation suit before the Bengaluru City Civil and Sessions Court seeking to restrain 42 media organisations, digital platforms and other defendants from publishing or circulating videos allegedly linking him to a honey-trap controversy.
Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge B Pushpanjali on Monday reserved orders on the application seeking interim directions to take down such offending videos and to restrain further publication. The court will pronounce its order on October 13.
Siddaramaiah has sought a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from broadcasting, publishing, sharing two videos and as well as clips, screenshots, transcripts or reports reproducing the allegations contained in the two videos.
He has also sought a direction to remove the videos and the relevant digital platforms to disable access to the content.
The suit has named 42 defendants, including Freedom TV Kannada, the YouTube channel Karnataka Honey Trap, several Kannada and English newspapers and television news channels, WhatsApp, YouTube LLC, Google India, Yahoo India and Facebook India.
According to the plea, the first video in this regard was uploaded by Karnataka Honey Trap on September 27, under the title “Karnataka Honey Trap Nexus Part 1”.
Siddaramaiah has alleged that the video and its accompanying caption sought to link him to allegations of blackmail, an alleged honey-trap network and political developments surrounding his tenure as Chief Minister.
The caption allegedly raised questions about whether Siddaramaiah had been blackmailed and whether compromising material had played a role in his resignation as Chief Minister earlier this year.
The former Chief Minister has categorically denied the insinuations, describing them as false, baseless and intended to damage his reputation and political standing.
The second publication is an hour-long programme streamed or uploaded by Freedom TV Kannada on October 2, 2026, under the title “LIVE: Biggest CD Blast in Karnataka Politics?”.
As per the plea, the programme sensationalised the controversy by repeatedly referring to an alleged CD and suggesting the involvement of a prominent political leader, without displaying independently verified material substantiating the allegations.
The suit also refers to a purported recording in which a woman allegedly claims that she was sexually exploited when she was a minor in or around 2011 and identifies Siddaramaiah as the person allegedly involved.
According to the plaint, the recording surfaced publicly only in September this year, approximately 15 years after the alleged incident.
Siddaramaiah has contended that the material does not disclose any contemporaneous complaint, independent witness statement or other independently verifiable evidence substantiating the allegations. He has also questioned the manner in which the conversation was recorded and presented, alleging that the questioning was structured to elicit a particular narrative.
The plaint further alleges that the accompanying political commentary and timing of the publications was an attempt to bring him into public disrepute.
The continued availability of the videos creates a risk of further dissemination through clips, edited versions, screenshots and social media posts and it cause irreparable harm to his reputation, it was argued.
Senior Advocate Vikram Huilgol appeared for the ex-CM.
The plea was filed by advocates Shathabish Shivanna and Praveen Kamath.