BANGALORE: A panel that probed porn viewing in the Karnataka assembly by three Bharatiya Janata Party ministers Monday reportedly gave the clean chit to two and found one guilty. The panel, which was reduced to a BJP affair as Congress and Janata Dal-Secular boycotted it, submitted its report to Speaker K.G. Bopaiah. Bopaiah set up the panel after two ministers, Laxman Savadi and C.C. Patil, were caught on TV cameras viewing a porn clip on a cell phone in the assembly Feb 7. The two ministers said the cell phone belonged to their colleague J. Krishna Palemar.
Informed sources said Patil and Palemar have been cleared of the charges while Savadi has been found guilty. The three resigned Feb 8 following a public outcry. The panel has recommended Savadi be let off after censure, the sources said.
The panel has also recommended that in future private TV channels should get the speaker's clearance to show any controversial scenes in the assembly. In Karnataka, private TV channels are allowed to telecast the proceedings of the assembly.
Following the porngate incident the government is thinking of setting up a separate channel, on the lines of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV, to telecast the assembly proceedings.