Published Nov 04, 2026 | 6:56 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 04, 2026 | 7:25 PM
Karnataka High Court.
Synopsis: The court noted that it was highly unlikely that the defendant had deliberately raised the Pakistan zindabad slogan instead of murdabad during a BJP-organised demonstration. The defendant submitted that he inadvertently raised the slogan in the heat of the moment.
The Karnataka High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against DS Ravi Kumar, accused of raising the slogan, ‘Pakistan zindabad’ during a BJP-organised protest in Mandya in December 2022.
Justice V. Srishananda on 28 October observed that it was “highly unimaginable” for participants at a BJP-organised demonstration to deliberately raise such a slogan, according to a Bar and Bench report.
“At the outset, in a demonstration organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party – a political party, it is highly unimaginable that the protesters therein would raise the slogan ‘Pakistan zindabad’,” the court observed.
The court also considered Kumar’s contention that the slogan was raised inadvertently in the heat of the protest, instead of the intended slogan, ‘Pakistan murdabad’.
“The argument of the petitioner needs to be considered that, in the flow of raising the slogans, by mistake the word zindabad crept in instead of murdabad,” it said.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by one Kannambadi Kumar, who alleged that participants in the demonstration had raised the slogan ‘Pakistan zindabad’. The Mandya West Police registered the case in 2024 under Sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505(1)(b) (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The complainant had sought police action after watching a video of the incident, claiming that it had caused him mental distress.
The state opposed Kumar’s plea, arguing that the video clip the complainant furnished clearly showed the slogan being raised deliberately. However, the High Court noted that the complaint was lodged two years after the incident and that the investigation failed to establish the identities of the participants or any resulting social unrest.
The court also found that the magistrate had taken cognisance of the offence under Section 505(1)(b) without the requisite prior sanction.
Holding that the ingredients of Section 153B were not attracted and that continuing the proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of law, the High Court allowed Kumar’s petition and quashed the criminal case.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
