VELLORE: The Judicial Magistrate Court here on Wednesday awarded six months imprisonment to Sun TV editor V Raja and a reporter in a criminal defamation complaint lodged by a former reporter for Tamil bi-weekly magazine Kumudham Reporter.
Judge Lavanya awarded six months imprisonment and imposed a penalty of `10,000 on Sun TV editor V Raja and its Vellore reporter Rajakumar for telecasting a defamatory news report on M P Gajaraj (53), a former reporter Kumudham Reporter.
On December 21, 2012, Sun News aired the report on fake reporters in the Vellore district. Gajaraj, then Vellore district reporter of Kumudham Reporter, was termed as one of the fake reporters in the district by Rajakumar. It reported that Gajaraj threatened politicians, real estate businessman and sand mafias and demanded a bribe for not to report about their illegal activities. One Rajalakshmi, who had given an interview in this regard, claiming that Gajaraj colluded with robbers and was getting a bribe from the criminals in the district.
Within the next few days, Kumudham Reporter management shunted out Gajaraj. He then lodged a criminal defamation case against the magazine, the woman who gave the interview and also Sun News editor Raja.
After completion of the trial, on August 4, the Judicial Magistrate Court convicted Raja, Rajakumar and Rajalakshmi under Section 500 of the IPC. However, the quantum of punishment was not pronounced as the three were not present in the court at that time. Later, the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against them.
When Raja and Rajakumar surrendered before Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday, Judge Lavanya withdrew the warrant and sentenced them to six months in jail, besides imposing `10,000 fine on each of them.