A man engaged in real estate business will now have to face trial to disprove that calling “punda-pokri” (rogue) in a television interview does not amount to a defamatory remark, and it did not force a woman to commit suicide as she could not tolerate such remarks against her husband aired through a Kannada television channel.
The High Court of Karnataka said that the petitioner, Srinivasaraju, will have to face trial to disprove the allegation that the word used by him in a television interview was not defamatory.
Justice K. Natarajan passed the order while refusing to quash the criminal proceedings initiated against the petitioner-businessman based on a complaint lodged by Venkatesh, whose wife had committed suicide in 2012.
