The Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash the defamation case filed by actress and former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Divya Spandana against Asianet News Network and journalist Vishweshwar Bhat. [Asianet News Network and Ors v. Divya Spandana].A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said,"You telecasted the news and it showed her videos and photographs...The complaint cannot be quashed...Thank you, but we will not interfere.".The Karnataka High Court had in March this year refused to quash the defamation case filed by Spandana against the news channel and the journalist.This led to the instant appeal before the apex court..In 2013, the actress had filed a defamation complaint against Asianet News Network, its channel Suvarana News, and Bhatt. As per the complaint, the accused had carried a program called 'Betting Raniyaru' (betting queens) where they claimed that Spandana was one of the actresses involved in a cricket betting and spot fixing scandal.On June 13, 2016, a trial court issued summons to the accused. Aggrieved, they approached the High Court. The High Court had noted that as per the complaint, the accused had depicted the actress as being involved in cricket betting and spot fixing, knowing fully well that it could cause damage to her reputation.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash the defamation case filed by actress and former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Divya Spandana against Asianet News Network and journalist Vishweshwar Bhat. [Asianet News Network and Ors v. Divya Spandana].A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said,"You telecasted the news and it showed her videos and photographs...The complaint cannot be quashed...Thank you, but we will not interfere.".The Karnataka High Court had in March this year refused to quash the defamation case filed by Spandana against the news channel and the journalist.This led to the instant appeal before the apex court..In 2013, the actress had filed a defamation complaint against Asianet News Network, its channel Suvarana News, and Bhatt. As per the complaint, the accused had carried a program called 'Betting Raniyaru' (betting queens) where they claimed that Spandana was one of the actresses involved in a cricket betting and spot fixing scandal.On June 13, 2016, a trial court issued summons to the accused. Aggrieved, they approached the High Court. The High Court had noted that as per the complaint, the accused had depicted the actress as being involved in cricket betting and spot fixing, knowing fully well that it could cause damage to her reputation.