Kozhikode: Mathrubhumi weekly expressed regret for carrying false matters against RSS. Interestingly, this step is after losing the legal battle even in Supreme Court. The apology has been carried in Mathrubhumi weekly. It has carried the regret note in its issue dated October 9, 2022. The apology by the editor is in the light of the article carried under the cover page title “Bheekarathude Virus” (Virus of Terrorism). It was part of the series of five articles from February 27, 2011 to March titled “Will RSS Terrorism Swallow India ?” The article was authored by Badri Raina. Mathrubhumi’s apology has come up while the defamation case filed by the then RSS Prath Karyavah P. Gopalankutty Master proceeds in Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. Adv. K.K. Baralaram had sent a legal notice to Mathrubhumi on March 19, 2013 pointing out that article was factually wrong. It stated that it was based on the statement Swami Aseemanand submitted before Panchkula Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Haryana.
The forged statement of Swami Aseemanand was the result of a dirty conspiracy hatched to defame RSS during the UPA regime. The court had acquitted Swami Aseemanand in 2019 after finding out that the statement was not genuine, and he was made to sign it by force. Mathrubhumi’s first response to RSS legal notice claimed that Badri Reyna had penned the article based on his investigations and researches.
The Gopalankutty Master filed the case in Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, stating that Mathrubhumi’s reply was unacceptable. Mathrubhumi Printer & Publisher M.N. Ravi Varma, Managing Editor P.V. Chandran, Editor K.K. Sreedharan Nair, Deputy Editor M.P. Gopinath, Assistant Editor Kamalram Sajeev, author Badri Raina and translator K.P. Dhanya were the accused in the case. Even though Mathrubhumi moved Kerala High Court praying to dismiss it, the Court rejected it. The court did not accept the Mathruhumi argument that the complainant had no right to file the case and RSS is not a defined organisation. The High Court observed that every RSS worker reserves the right to file a defamation case if somebody publishes articles defaming his organisation. High Court said, quick action should be taken according to law. Justice Sofi Thomas issued the significant verdict on January 7, rejecting the petition of Mathrubhumi. Then Mathrubhumi moved Supreme Court, but the apex court upheld the verdict of the High Court and ordered to continue the case in the trial court. Accordingly, the case continued in the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. Meanwhile, Mathrubhumi has published an apology accepting that the article is factually wrong.
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