Newsminute parent firm moves K'taka HC against Dharmasthala gag orders

Bengaluru: Spokane Media, the parent company of digital news platform 'The Newsminute', has approached the Karnataka High Court challenging ex-parte gag orders related to the Dharmasthala burials case. The company has filed two separate petitions against interim injunctions that it claims were obtained without giving it a chance to be heard. The matter is expected to come up for hearing next week.

The move comes after a July 18 order by an Additional City Civil and Sessions Court directed the de-indexing and deletion of over 8,000 online links. This action followed a petition by Harshendra Kumar D, brother of Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian D Veerendra Heggade and secretary of the Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational Society. The restricted content included reportage concerning the 2012 rape and murder case of a 17-year-old girl.

Spokane argued in its petition that although the petitioner was aware it was a separate legal entity, it was deliberately excluded from the original suit to secure an ex-parte injunction, thereby denying 'The Newsminute' an opportunity to contest the order. The company defended its coverage as fair and within the scope of responsible journalism.

A similar gag order had earlier been challenged by online platform Kudla Rampage*, which was successful in having it quashed. In that case, Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that the interim order effectively amounted to a final decision without an adversarial hearing, stating, “The impugned order… while ostensibly couched as an interim measure, in truth and effect, partakes the character of a final determination.”

Spokane also challenged a March 22 order of a similar nature, alleging a broader, systematic pattern across multiple courts to obtain ex-parte injunctions aimed at curbing freedom of speech and press.