Aaj Tak Anchor Sudhir Chaudhary Booked For Spreading Misinformation on Govt Scheme

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Police have filed an FIR against Sudhir Chaudhary, a news anchor for Aaj Tak, for spreading false information about a commercial vehicle subsidy scheme for minority, SC/ST, and backward-class communities.

Chaudhary’s show, which aired on September 11, centred on an advertisement by the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation. The ad promised a subsidy of 50 percent or up to Rs 3 lakh to individuals from religious minorities with a household income of less than Rs 4.5 lakh for the purchase of commercial vehicles. The show alleged discrimination, claiming that Hindus were excluded from the scheme.

Congress, to fund its freebies,

1. Is increasing guidance value by 30%,
2. Has doubled electricity charges,
3. Hiked excise duty, milk prices, road tax & also plans to extract 5% cess.

Now, Karnataka's middle class will fund a 'religion targeted scheme', specifically designed… pic.twitter.com/LjOM9jaUrm

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) September 8, 2023

However, Chaudhary failed to mention that the same scheme is accessible to SC/ST and backward community members through different government initiatives.

Chaudhary’s show also falsely claimed that the scheme was a recent initiative by the Congress government. However, the scheme has been in place for several years, even under the BJP government.

In response to the FIR, Chaudhary defended himself on social media, claiming he was booked for “asking a question.” However, the FIR clearly states that he is being charged with spreading false information.

This is not the first time that Chaudhary has been accused of spreading false information. In the past, he has been criticized for his coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and the farmers’ protests.