Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda will have to pay Rs 2 crore in a defamation suit

BANGALORE: Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda will have to pay Rs 2 crore in a defamation suit. Deve Gowda has come to make the payment after a Bangalore court ruled in the case in 2011.

The court has ordered Deve Gowda to pay Rs 2 crore for making derogatory remarks against Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) in a TV interview in the 2011 case. Such an order is a lesson for politicians who accuse private sector companies without any facts.

NICE's promoter and managing director is Ashok Kheni, who is also a former MLA from Bidar South. On June 2, 2011, the court ordered Gowda to pay Rs 2 crore, citing a program aired on a Kannada news channel under the headline Gowda Garzan. The company's reputation was damaged by the insulting remarks made in it.

In fact the head of the JDS resented an NICE scheme and called it a robbery. The court found that the scheme was upheld by the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court in its judgment. The court, in its June 18 order, said the scheme launched by the company was a "huge project" in the interest of Karnataka. If such abusive statements are allowed to continue in the future, there may be a delay in launching a major project at present. The court therefore feels that it is necessary to give such a judgment in order to control the statements of the defendant.