News website The Wire has been slapped with an interim injunction order from a Bangalore civil court, forcing it to take down its articles criticising Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar..Chandrasekhar had filed a defamation suit through advocate MS Shyam Sundar against the news portal in response to two articles published earlier this year, titled ‘Arnab’s Republic, Modi’s Ideology’ and ‘In Whose Interests Do Our Soldiers March?’.The former article, written by Sandeep Bhushan, was about Republic TV, a news channel Chandrasekhar is set to launch along with Arnab Goswami, while in the latter piece, Sachin Rao alleged a conflict of interest with Chandrasekhar being a member of the parliamentary committee on defence and investing in defence companies..On March 2, Chandrasekhar approached the City Civil Court at Bangalore with a view to obtaining an ex-parte interim injunction against The Wire and its journalists. That very day, civil judge Jinaralkar Bheemrao Lagamappa granted the injunction and prohibited the website from publishing, circulating and tweeting any information that may cause damage to the reputation of the plaintiff..The Wire has since taken down the articles and posted the legal notice they received from Chandrasekhar on March 3. It is also mentioned that the Foundation for Independent Journalism – the non-profit company that runs The Wire – will be challenging the order..Apart from the injunction, Chandrasekhar has also sought damages of Rs. 10 crore from the news outlet for allegedly defaming him. In the plaint, the Rajya Sabha MP has alleged that he had received numerous enquiries about the “baseless and malicious statements” made in the articles, which have caused him “huge reputational damage”..The matter will now be taken up for hearing on April 4..Read the interim orders:
News website The Wire has been slapped with an interim injunction order from a Bangalore civil court, forcing it to take down its articles criticising Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar..Chandrasekhar had filed a defamation suit through advocate MS Shyam Sundar against the news portal in response to two articles published earlier this year, titled ‘Arnab’s Republic, Modi’s Ideology’ and ‘In Whose Interests Do Our Soldiers March?’.The former article, written by Sandeep Bhushan, was about Republic TV, a news channel Chandrasekhar is set to launch along with Arnab Goswami, while in the latter piece, Sachin Rao alleged a conflict of interest with Chandrasekhar being a member of the parliamentary committee on defence and investing in defence companies..On March 2, Chandrasekhar approached the City Civil Court at Bangalore with a view to obtaining an ex-parte interim injunction against The Wire and its journalists. That very day, civil judge Jinaralkar Bheemrao Lagamappa granted the injunction and prohibited the website from publishing, circulating and tweeting any information that may cause damage to the reputation of the plaintiff..The Wire has since taken down the articles and posted the legal notice they received from Chandrasekhar on March 3. It is also mentioned that the Foundation for Independent Journalism – the non-profit company that runs The Wire – will be challenging the order..Apart from the injunction, Chandrasekhar has also sought damages of Rs. 10 crore from the news outlet for allegedly defaming him. In the plaint, the Rajya Sabha MP has alleged that he had received numerous enquiries about the “baseless and malicious statements” made in the articles, which have caused him “huge reputational damage”..The matter will now be taken up for hearing on April 4..Read the interim orders: