State govt. temporarily halts arrests of two scribes Ravi Belagere & Anil Raj

Bengaluru: The state government has reportedly decided to temporarily put off action against two scribes following medical treatment of one of the accused.

A resolution was passed by the State Assembly against Ravi Belagere, editor of "Hi Bangalore", a weekly tabloid and Anil Raj of Yelahanka voice for publishing defamatory articles against a few sitting legislators.

The complaint was filed by Assembly members B M Nagaraj (Siruguppa) and S R Vishwanath for breach of privilege. The resolution had recommended imprisonment of the two journalists for one year and an imposition of a fine of Rs 10,000.

However, according to sources, Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad has directed the home department to go slow on the process since one of the scribes Ravi Belagere is undergoing treatment for several ailments. CM Siddaramaiah too on Wednesday, said that the home department had been asked not to arrest the journos immediately.

AICC General Secretary and Karnataka In-Charge K C Venugopal too had spoken in favour of freedom of press. There has been opposition from both ruling and opposition parties against arrest of the scribes.