Supreme Court stays defamation case against Aroon Purie, Rajdeep Sardesai, Shiv Aroor over sting op

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. "Issue notice, returnable on 22 April 2024. Liberty to serve the Standing Counsel for the State of Karnataka, in addition. Pending further orders, there shall be a stay of further proceedings arising out Crime No 92 of 2016 dated 7 June 2016 registered at PS High Grounds, Bengaluru", the bench ordered..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. "Question whether the petitioners (accused) had any intention to harm the reputation of the respondent No.2 (Patil) or not, and whether the petitioners had any justification for publishing the article against the respondent No.2 or not are all matters that have to be ascertained during the course of investigation. Therefore the petitioners cannot contend at this stage, that no offence is made out against them," the High Court said. However, the High Court had added that the authorities should not insist on the personal presence of Purie in the matter unless his role in the sting operation and the telecast of the report is established. .[Read order]