Minister sues journalists who had filmed him watching porn

BENGALURU: Karnataka primary and secondary education minister Tanveer Sait has lodged a complaint against a television journalist and his cameraman who shot a video of him purportedly watching sleazy pictures on his cellphone at a Tipu Jayanti function on Thursday in Raichur, about 450km from Bengaluru.

Police charged the two under Section 504 of the Indian Penal Code (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace).

CM K Siddaramaiah said, “I'm not aware of the development. I'll speak to Sait before reacting... (But) I'm not defending anyone. What's important is whether a mistake has been committed. I won't accept the report Sait submits to me. I will get the incident probed before initiating action.“

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said Siddaramaiah should have been careful while dealing with the issue. “The media has shown footage of Sait watching objectionable photos on his mobile. Instead of giving the minister a clean chit, the CM should order a probe into the incident. Now, a complaint has been filed against a media house,“ he said.