On 29 November, Amit Malviya, chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party's information technology cell, tweeted out a sly warning to journalists. His warning did not immediately garner attention, but on reflection, it is really quite disturbing.

It was Scroll that first drew attention to the Malviya's tweet, which said, "Prahlad Joshi, BJP MP from Dharwad, gets Gauri Lankesh convicted in a defamation case... Hope other journos take note."

Malviya was referring to the conviction of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh in a defamation case filed by Prahlad Joshi, a BJP lawmaker from Dharwad, Karnataka. Joshi and another BJP leader, Umesh Dushi, had sued Lankesh over an article which she wrote criticising them in January, 2008. A Judicial Magistrate First Class court sentenced Lankesh to six months in prison along with a ?5000 fine in two separate cases. She has been granted bail and plans to appeal the verdict in a higher court.