“The footage telecast on TV9, a regional channel, on Sunday evening is highly techno-fabricated,” Karnataka Tourism Minister G. Janardhan Reddy told journalists here.
Mr. Reddy denied having met any person by name Ashok Sharma. “I do not know him, let alone meet him. The CD is a concocted one; one more attempt to tarnish my image and also that of the family,” he said.
The Minister was shown conversing on August 11, 2010, with a person by name Ashok Sharma. He was allegedly assuring him that he would pay a whopping sum to get his cases settled. The cases pertain to the ones before the Election Commission for holding an office of profit and before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on alleged illegal mining indulged by the Obulapuram Mining Company.
The controversial leases in Andhra Pradesh are owned by Mr. Reddy along with two other ministers, G. Karunakar Reddy and B. Sriramulu.
In the footage there is also talk about changing the leadership of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
Mr. Reddy said that it was the responsibility of the TV channel to explain to the public how it got the CD and who had given it.
“As a responsible medium, it is duty-bound to clarify all these doubts, failing which people would lose faith in it,” he said, adding that a detailed inquiry should be held to bring the truth to light and also the guilty to book.
Seeking exception to the channel not seeking his reaction before the footage was aired, Mr. Reddy sought to know in whose interest the “fabricated” CD was telecast and at whose behest.
“What interest did the channel have in telecasting the concocted CD at this juncture, during the ongoing political turmoil in the State. There were several attempts earlier to assassinate my character and tarnish the image of my family. Now another attempt, which is very low, has been made,” he said.
Mr. Reddy declined to say who he suspected as being behind the telecast.
“I only say that the footage is fabricated and an inquiry would bring the truth to light. On the agency to be entrusted for undertaking the probe, I will file a private complaint in court,” he said.
Mr. Reddy said he was consulting his legal advisers with regard to filing a defamation case against the channel.
Mr. Sriramulu was present at the press conference.
“Must be a fraud”
Delhi Special Correspondent reports:
Meanwhile, Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily told The Hindu that he had checked with his office and was told no person by that name (Ashok Sharma) existed. “He must be a fraud.” No such person with that name was working in his department nor was anybody with that name in contact with his Ministry, he said.
