Release of film `Sathyananda` stayed

Bangalore: A court here today stayed the release of Kannada film `Sathyananda` purportedly based on the life of self-styled godman Nityananda till a defamation suit filed by him is disposed off.

Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Ashwath Narayana passed the order on an Interlocutory Application filed by Nityananda seeking to restrain the producers from releasing the film. Senior counsel for Nithyananda K V Dhananjaya had argued that the producer promoted the film in the name of Nithyananda and "not only launched verbal attacks on him but also solicited stories on Facebook from the general public on the issue of whether they were exploited by him (the godman)". The posters of the film carried the picture of Nithyananda, Dhananjaya submitted. "However despite doing all this, the producer swore before the court that he does not even know who Nithyananda is," he pointed out. Nityananda was arrested last year on criminal charges including rape, after video footage showing him in a compromising position with an actress was aired by TV channels last year. PTI