Two editors of Kannada tabloids, including journalist Ravi Belagere, have been sentenced to one year in jail and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 by the Karnataka Assembly for their allegedly defamatory write-ups against state legislators.

The Karnataka Assembly adopted the resolution to punish the two scribes - Belagere, who is editor of 'Hi Bangalore' and Anil Raju, editor of 'Yelahanka Voice' - through a voice vote on June 20 for these articles. Apart from the jail term, the Speaker also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each one of them.

Speaker KB Koliwad said on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly, "I approve the recommendation of the privilege committee, which had recommended a year's imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 on editors of 'Hi Bangalore' and 'Yelahanka Voice' ."

JAIL TERM MAY BE EXTENDED BY SIX MONTHS

He added that if the journalists failed to pay the fine, the jail term would be extended to another six months.

The Assembly secretariat said that it would ask cops to act on the House resolution, sentencing the two journalists to jail.

The Privileges Committee of the Assembly had recommended jail for Belagere and Raju for allegedly publishing articles against MLAs, including Koliwad.

The write-up against Koliwad was published in the September 2014 issue of 'Hi Bangalore.'

FORMER SPEAKER THIMMAPPA REFERRED ISSUE TO PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE

The issue had been referred to the Privileges Committee by former Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa after Koliwad, when he was an MLA, had lodged a complaint against Belagere.

The issue was raised in the House by Congress and BJP MLAs BM Nagaraju and SR Viswanath, who recommended action against the journalists.Nagaraju accused Belagare of not being present for the hearing despite being summoned by the committee.

Assembly Secretary S Murthy said a communication was being sent to the police for further action. "The process regarding the same is underway", he added.

When asked what would be his future course of action, Koliwad said all the set procedures would be followed in accordance with the law.

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

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