Darshan Charge Sheet: Karnataka HC Bars Media From Reporting Indictment Details

The Karnataka High Court, through an ex-parte interim order on Tuesday, barred the media from broadcasting, printing, or publishing any details from the charge sheet filed by the police against Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is accused in a murder case, until the next hearing.

Justice Hemant Chandangoudar, sitting on a single-judge bench, issued the order in response to a petition filed by Darshan. The petition sought a directive to the Union of India to enforce a restriction on media agencies and news channels from disseminating confidential information contained in the charge sheet and other related materials while the case is still pending.

During the proceedings, the court noted that despite an ex-parte ad-interim injunction granted on August 27 in a related suit filed by Darshan's wife, media outlets continued to publish and broadcast confidential information. The court determined that Darshan had presented a prima facie case for granting an interim order. Consequently, respondents 3 to 40 were restrained from publishing, broadcasting, printing, and disseminating any confidential information from the charge sheet until the next hearing.

The bench referred to the Supreme Court judgment in Sidhartha Vashisht @ Manu Sharma vs. State (NCT Of Delhi), 2010, Clause 5 of the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995, and previous High Court judgments in making its decision. The court also instructed the Union of India to notify media houses of the order.

Darshan was arrested in connection with the Renukaswamy murder case on June 11, 2024, and has been in judicial custody since June 22. He remains lodged in prison.