'K'taka House sentencing scribes to jail an open attack on

The National Union of Journalists (India) today condemned the Karnataka Assembly's decision to sentence two journalists to prison, terming it as "open attack" on the freedom of press.

In a joint statement, the NUJ(I) and its Delhi unit -- Delhi Journalists' Association (DJA) -- demanded the state government move a resolution in the Assembly withdrawing the sentence.

Two journalists were recently sentenced to a year in jail and slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 each by the Assembly.

They were accused of writing "defamatory" articles about the Speaker and a few members of the legislature, the statement said.

It said if the legislators had any complain against the journalists or the story published in any newspaper, they should have approached the Press Council of India (PCI).

"The state Assembly should not have taken such a drastic action against the scribes, as this will set a wrong precedent in the country," it said.

NUJ(I) president Ras Bihari said the NUJ(I) would send a fact-finding committee to Karnataka to know the ground realities.

Demanding high level judicial inquiry into the episode, DJA president Manohar Singh stressed that the report of the inquiry committee should be submitted to the Press Council of India and the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)