K.C. Venugopal, All-India Congress Committee general secretary and Karnataka in-charge, has asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to take suitable action for withdrawal of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly’s resolution of imposing one-year prison sentence and ₹10,000 fine on the editors of two tabloids. The resolution was passed based on the recommendation of a Committee on Privileges for publishing “defamatory and false” articles against three MLAs.
Decrying the Speaker's action, Mr. Venugopal told Mr. Siddaramaiah to hold discussions with Speaker K.B. Koliwad and take necessary action for withdrawal of the resolution. The Congress party was against harassment of journalists and stood for freedom of speech, he said.
