Justice A.S. Bopanna, before whom the petitions filed by Ravi Belagere, editor of Hi Bangalore, and Anil Raj, editor of Yelahanka Voice, adjourned further hearing till December 6 while observing that issues raised on the petitions require the court’s consideration. Earlier, it was contended on behalf of the petitioners that the articles published in the tabloids against legislators – K.B. Koliwad (who is presently Speaker of the Assembly), S.R. Nagaraja – were not related to any proceedings or issues covered under the privileges of MLAs within the Legislative Assembly and hence, the Committee on Privileges (CoP) had no jurisdiction to deal with the complaints filed by the three legislators. It has been claimed in the petition that the three MLAs, if aggrieved by articles published by the tabloids, had to avail legal remedy available under Indian Penal Code as the articles are not related to the proceedings of the Assembly.

Source: The Hindu November 30, 2017 17:15 UTC