Bengaluru court slaps fine on Reporter TV in case seeking ban on news of Muttil tree felling

BENGALURU: The Bengaluru City Civil and Sessions Court has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Reporter TV in a petition seeking to ban news related to the Muttil tree felling case from Malayalam TV channels. The court also ordered the restoration of news reports related to the tree felling case and the Mango Phone case, which were earlier removed following a court order.

The petition had sought directions to various media outlets to remove news links related to the Muttil tree felling case and the Mango Phone fraud case, in which the Augustine brothers, directors of Reporter TV, are accused. The petition was filed by Reporter Broadcasting Company Private Limited before the Bengaluru court. The court had earlier issued an interim order on October 25, 2025, directing the removal of the news links.

However, the court later found that the petitioners had misused the interim order. Media organisations had approached the court challenging the order, stating that it was passed without hearing them. Subsequently, Reporter TV filed a memo stating that it was withdrawing the case. The court imposed the fine on Reporter TV by stating that filing the memo without explaining the reasons amounted to wasting the valuable time of the court.