Bengaluru Court Fines Reporter TV ₹10,000 for ‘Malicious Intent’, Lifts Gag Order on Other News Channels

The Bengaluru City Civil and Sessions Court has lifted a controversial media gag order and imposed a ₹10,000 fine on Malayalam news channel Reporter TV. This is after Reporter TV sought to withdraw its own petition to suppress reports on its owners’ alleged involvement in the high-profile Muttil illegal tree-felling and Mango phone scam cases.

With the gag order now vacated, media outlets can resume coverage of these matters without restriction. The court also said the news links which had been suppressed by the interim injunction, be released within 7 days for public access.

The court accused Reporter TV for acting with “malicious intent” by initially obtaining the restriction and then attempting to back out.

Reporter TV is led by brothers Roji Augustine as chairman, Jose Kutty Augustine as vice-chairman, and Anto Augustine serving as both Managing Director and Managing Editor. These three brothers stand as the primary accused in the 2020 Muttil tree-felling case, which involved the illegal cutting of rosewood trees from government-assigned land.

The Bengaluru Court ruling nullifies the interim injunction granted on October 25, last year, which barred media houses, including Asianet News, Manorama News, the NewsMinute, and tech platforms like Google, Meta, and X from publishing content about the alledged criminal history of the channel’s management.

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