Bengaluru court orders 3 months jail for Power TV MD over contempt

Bengaluru, January 14 (PTI) A court here has sentenced Power TV Managing Director Rakesh Shetty to three months in jail for violation of an interim injunction that restrained the channel from telecasting defamatory content against former IPS officer B R Ravikanthe Gowda.

Gowda is presently the Inspector General of Police, Karnataka Eastern Range.

“The respondent found committed disobedience or breach of interim order of temporary injunction passed by this court on 08.09.2023,” the Bengaluru Rural District court said.

It then said, “the respondent shall be detained in civil prison for three months” upon deposit of subsistence allowance as fixed by the state government.

Passing the order, senior civil judge Abdul Saleem said the petitioner has proved “beyond all shadow of doubt that the respondent/defendant No.52 had wilfully committed disobedience” of the injunction order.

The court observed that despite having clear knowledge of the interim order, Power TV continued to air programmes portraying the petitioner in a negative light.

Referring to the evidence, the judge recorded that the channel broadcast programmes on September 22 and 23, 2023, including a show titled “Power Breaking”, which discussed the petitioner’s character and projected him in the negative spectrum.

Rejecting the defence contention, the court reiterated the settled legal position that even violation of an ex-parte interim injunction attracts contempt proceedings.

While in force, these orders have to be obeyed and their violation can be punished, he added.

The matter has been posted to January 31, 2026, for deposit of subsistence allowance. PTI GMS ROH