The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay on an investigation against news anchor Arnab Goswami in a case in which he was accused of airing fake news about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, reported Bar and Bench.

The case pertains to a report on March 27 on Republic TV Kannada alleging that traffic in Bengaluru’s MG Road area was halted for Siddaramaiah, and that an ambulance was not allowed to pass through. However, the chief minister was in fact in Mysuru at the time, according to the complainant – a Congress member named Ravindra MV.

Goswami is the managing director of the Republic Media Network, which owns Republic TV Kannada. He approached the High Court demanding that the case against him, filed under an Indian Penal Code section about promoting ill-will between different groups, be quashed.

Goswami’s lawyer Aruna Shyam told the court that Republic TV Kannada deleted the report as soon as it found out that it was incorrect, according to Bar and Bench.

Justice M Nagaprasanna, while granting the interim stay, said that if such complaints were to be accepted, it would amount to abusing the legal process. He noted that the entire sequence of events took place within 24 hours, and asked how an offence about statements promoting ill-will under Section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code was made out.

“Therefore, it is a case of reckless registration of crime by the complainant,” the judge said, according to Bar and Bench.

The case will be heard next on January 16.