A single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the interim order on the petition filed by Surya seeking to quash the FIR.
Published Nov 15, 2024 | 10:08 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 15, 2024 | 10:08 AM
Tejasvi Surya adressing the press. (Screengrab)
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday, 14 November, granted interim relief to BJP MP Tejasvi Surya and stayed the investigation in the case registered against him for spreading “fake news” regarding the suicide of a farmer in Haveri district.
A single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the interim order on the petition filed by Surya seeking to quash the FIR, reported LiveLaw.
The court took notice of the submission of the petitioner that the alleged post on X had been deleted after the police issued a clarification in regards to the suicide and also the interview given to the media by the father of the deceased.
In a now-deleted post on X, Surya claimed that a farmer named Rudrappa Channappa Balikai died by suicide after he found out that his land was taken over by the Waqf board and claimed that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan have “unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day”.
Following the post, the Haveri Superintendent of Police (SP) said that the MP’s claim regarding the reason for the farmer’s suicide was false.
“The news shared is false. No such incident reported. The farmer mentioned here, Rudrappa Channappa Balikai suicide case was reported on 06/01/2022 and it was reported to be due to loan and crop loss. Case was registered u/s 174 CrPC in Adur PS. Final report was already submitted,” the SP said on X.
Karnataka Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge also slammed the BJP and Surya for “continuously spreading misinformation.”
Several news outlets also reported the farmer’s suicide with a false claim linking it to the Waqf Board.
It is not the first time that the high court has stayed the investigation against BJP leaders.
On 30 September, the high court had also issued a stay on the ongoing investigation against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and several others over alleged extortion charges related to the controversial Electoral Bonds Scheme.
It came in the backdrop of a recent FIR registered by the city police against Sitharaman, BJP President JP Nadda, former Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel, and unknown officials from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) among others.
On 7 November, it quashed a criminal case registered against Nadda relating to certain remarks made at an election rally in April 2023 for allegedly unduly influencing voters.
On 30 August, the high court stayed further proceedings initiated against Karnataka BJP President BY Vijayendra in connection with an FIR registered over an allegedly offensive animated video posted on X by the party’s Karnataka unit on alleged Muslim appeasement by the Congress.
On 22 March, it stayed further investigation in a criminal case filed against BJP MP and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje over her statement during a protest in Bengaluru, where she linked a suspect in the Rameshwaram cafe blast in Bengaluru with Tamil Nadu.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
