‘Political vendetta’: SC stays restraining order on Kannada channel that claimed Prajwal Revanna link

Noting that it “looks like a plain case of political vendetta”, the Supreme Court has granted interim relief to Kannada news channel Power TV and its affiliate Mitcoin Infrastructure by vacating an interim stay on the channel's broadcasts, Bar and Bench reported.

Power TV was at the forefront of reporting sexual abuse allegations against suspended JDS leader Prajwal Revanna and his brother Suraj Revanna.

“We are inclined to protect freedom of speech and expression. The more we hear this it looks like a plain case of political vendetta and this court will be failing in its duty if it is not protected,” noted Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud leading a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, according to Bar and Bench.

Issuing a notice on the channel’s appeal, the court then stayed the high court’s interim order to halt all broadcasts till July 15.

The high court order had come after allegations that the channel did not hold an active licence to broadcast content. The Centre had also issued a show-cause notice in February this year.

But Power TV claimed that it was targeted for a segment on April 25 this year which exposed the Prajwal Revanna case. It claimed that CEO Rakesh Shetty received a call on April 25 from Prajwal Revanna’s father, HD Revanna, who assured that all issues being faced by the channel would be resolved if it takes down its broadcast. It also claimed that an officer attached to Union minister Prahlad Joshi called Shetty two days later to threaten that the channel would face serious problems if it did not take down its broadcast.

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