Assault Incident: CM Orders Probe, TV Channels Observe 2 Mins Blackout
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Mar 2: With media persons observing protests in Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka against the violent attacks by Bangalore’s lawyers at the Bangalore City Civil Court on Friday during former Tourism Minister and MLC G Janardhana Reddy’s appearance in the court in illegal mining case, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has ordered a judicial probe into the entire incident.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC would continue at the City Civil Court premises on Saturday also, the Chief Minister said.
A retired judge of the High Court of Karnataka or the Supreme Court would be appointed in two or three days to probe the incident comprehensively, the Chief Minister announced after a high level meeting attended by Home Minister R Ashok and top police officials.
All the TV channels have decided to observe a two-minute blackout of their broadcasts from 8 pm to 8.02 pm to condemn the attacks against the media persons
The Chief Minister said the Government would frame guidelines to probe the matter after discussing it with the Principal District Civil and Sessions Judge, Bangalore, and Registrar of the Court.
After completion of the probe, the Government would take action against the guilty without any hesitation, the Chief Minister said.
“The truth will come out after a comprehensive inquiry,” he said declaring that the Government would not spare anybody. ''There is no question of shielding any advocates for taking law into their hands and assaulting media persons and damaging their camera equipments,” he said.
The Chief Minister, who had incurred the wrath of the media persons for his first reaction in the morning that he was not aware of the situation and would ask the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S Suresh Kumar to take stock of the situation and brief him, later assured that the Government would bear medical expenses of scribes and police, who were injured in the attack and admitted to hospital.
The Chief Minister said damage to public properties too would be assessed soon. The police have been deployed at the court and other parts of the city to prevent untoward incidents, he said.
The Home Minister R Ashok, who met the media persons who staged a protest in front of Vidhana Soudha in the afternoon, condemned the incident and the unruly and the lawlessness exhibited by the lawyers and said the Government would take stern action against the guilty.
The Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri has also strongly condemned the attack of media persons by lawyers on the city civil court premises on Friday.
Kageri said the lawyers indulged in the attack on the fourth estate should be punished and action to be taken to prevent such ugly incidents in the future.