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The Karnataka High Court on Friday, June 27, quashed two hate speech cases filed against former Chief Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai. The cases stemmed from Bommai’s remarks during a protest rally in November 2024, where he accused the state’s Waqf Board of encroaching on farmland.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar, who heard the matter, ruled that Bommai’s comments did not amount to promoting enmity between groups, an offence under Section 196(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, for which he had been charged.
The court observed that the allegations against the Haveri MP were vague and that pursuing the cases would amount to an abuse of legal process. The FIRs were lodged after the BJP organised a protest in November 2024 targeting the Waqf Board and the Congress-led Karnataka government, accusing them of illegally acquiring farmers’ and temples’ properties.
At the rally held in Savanur taluk, Haveri district, Bommai had stated that if someone were to throw a stone anywhere in Savanur, it would fall on Waqf property.
“If the impugned complaint and FIR are perused keeping in mind the principles elucidated, it is clear that, except for stating that wherever a stone is thrown, Waqf property is to be found. Apart from that, there are no allegations to attract the offence,” Justice Kumar noted. He concluded that given the “vague, bald, omnibus, laconic allegations” in the complaints, continuing the proceedings would be an abuse of the process of law.