News channels ordered to pay Rs 50 lakh in damages to Divya Spandana

The

Bengaluru City Civil Court

has asked television channel

Asianet

and its Kannada news channel

Suvarna News

to pay Rs 50 lakh to Kannada actor and former MP Divya Spandana in a defamation case. The actor-politician was wrongfully linked to the IPL spot-fixing scam in 2013 by the news channel. After Suvarna News aired programmes hinting at her involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL) betting scandal, Divya had filed the suit in 2013 against the channel.

Judge Patil Nagalinganagouda

said the programmes affected Divya’s reputation and that act of the defendants was, "in complete violation of journalistic ethics ."