Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 22 : The Karnataka High Court on Thursday stayed the proceedings against BJP leader Amit Malviya and Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, with the next hearing to take place on June 20.
Senior Advocate Aruna Shyam told reporters that the Karnataka High Court passed interim orders on Thursday in the petitions challenging two separate FIRs lodged against Amit Malviya and Arnab Goswami.
"The Karnataka High Court has stayed the proceedings till the next hearing date on June 20...In both cases, the offence alleged in the FIR uploaded on the website of the police department was Section 352. Whereas the certified copy available with the magistrate states Section 353 of the BNS. So the FIRs have been manipulated...They have been targeted politically, and there is no case for filing the FIR," Aruna Shyam said.
He was answering a query on the FIR filed by Congress against Amit Malviya and Arnab Goswami.
Aruna Shyam said the matter will now be heard on June 20.
"Notices have been issued to different complainants, who claim to be office bearers of the Congress party. Till then, the proceedings have been stayed...Section 352 is bailable, but section 353 of BNS is not bailable," he said.
Two persons had filed police complaints against Amit Malviya, who is in-charge of BJP's Information and Technology Dept, and Arnab Goswami. The complainant accused them of "disseminating false information" and propagating a "fabricated claim that the Istanbul Congress Centre in Turkey is the office of the Indian National Congress."
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said yesterday that the INC has filed criminal complaints against Amit Malviya and Arnab Goswami. He accused them of "spreading lies"
and said the complaints have now been registered and converted to FIRs.
Republic Digital had issued a corrigendum on May 20, saying that an incorrect image was inadvertently used erroneously depicting a building as the Congress office in Turkey due to a technical error. It regretted the error and said it was promptly rectified.