TIRUPATI: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy said that a defamation case of Rs 100 crore, cases under Section 153 A and 29 A of the Hate Speech Law would be filed against the Telugu daily Andhra Jyothi for posting a false story that the picture of Jesus Christ was used on Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams-run (TTD) website in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday after the hearing of the case he had filed in the Tirupati Magistrate Court on behalf of the TTD EO about the fake news, Subramanian Swamy said that he will take up the cudgels whenever such false propaganda is spread on Hindu temples. Swamy said that he would not tolerate false allegations being made against four lakh Hindu temples in the country and would take legal action.

He said a defamation suit was filed against the Telugu newspaper and they should apologize for writing such despicable news items. He also said that they would demand Rs 100 crore defamation charges for posting such information and the TTD had already paid a stamp duty of Rs one Crore to this extent. Swamy recalled that he had also filed a petition under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Hate Speech Act under sections 153, 153A, 295, 295A, 500 for trying to incite people.

The Tirupati police had earlier informed the court that the picture of Jesus Christ was never used on the TTD website as reported by Andhra Jyothi in 2019. The police also conveyed to the court that it was framing charges against three persons of the newspaper for carrying a report which incited people.

He said Andhra Jyothi had carried a front-page story that TTD board displayed on its website a picture of Jesus Christ. He said the newspapers did not have even the basic courtesy of speaking to TTD chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy. Swamy said this had led to tremendous unrest among Hindus, but the investigations revealed that the report was totally fabricated. Speaking further Swamy rubbished rumours that the TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy and his wife were Christians. “ I have known Subba Reddy for many years and calling him a Christian was false, he asserted.

He later went to the High Court seeking court monitoring of the investigation. In response to the court notice, the DGP informed the court that the investigations concluded that there was never a picture of Jesus Christ on the TTD website.