The former Prime Minister of India H.D. Deve Gowda was asked to pay a fine of Rs. 2 crores in a defamation case.
Recently, a Bengaluru Civil and Session Court announced a verdict in a defamation case filed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE.) According to the verdict issued by the Court Judge Mallanagouda, H.D. Deve Gowda, made defaming remarks against the company in a television interview 10 years ago, in 2011. With the pronounced judgement the decade long case finally came to a conclusion.
What was the matter?
In 2011, the then Chief Minister of Karnataka and current Janata Dal Secular leader H.D. Deve Gowda made some derogatory comments against NICE. During the interview, aired on a Kannada TV channel on the 28th of June 2011, Gowda had termed the NICE project as ‘loot.’ During the interview, he said, the company utilised more land than required for implementation of the project, which was approved by the then Karnataka Government (in 1995.)
The promoter and the Managing Director Ashok Kheny, later objected to the comment and filed a defamation case. Mr. Kheny, who was also the former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Bidar South, challenged Deve Gowda to prove his allegations in the court.
In addition, the counsel of the company said, Mr. Gowda made allegations without any documentary evidence and was baseless. Hence, the company demanded Rs. 10 crore compensation for the reputation damage. The counsel for the company also contended that the project was approved by the then Karnataka Government and had no role in deciding the quantity of land.
Referring to the interview, the Bengaluru Court finally gave the verdict and asked Mr. Deve Gowda to pay the compensation amount of Rs. 2 crores. The court also asked him not to make any derogatory comments against the enterprise in the future.
