Communal violence cases against MLAs and MPs withdrawn in Karnataka, court asks how

This is in context of an August, 2020 order passed by the BS Yediyurappa-government.

Karnataka High Court

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29 Jan 2021, 2:36 pm

In a setback for the BJP in Karnataka, the High Court on Friday reiterated that certain cases of communal violence and cow vigilantism against elected leaders and others cannot be dropped mechanically. This is in context of an order passed by the BS Yediyurappa-government in August 2020 through which 61 cases were set to be dropped. The state government had wanted to withdraw the cases applying Section 321 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) which gives power to the Public Prosecutor or the Assistant Public Prosecutor to drop cases.

Taking cognizance of an Indian Express report, the Karnataka HC said the earlier stay on the matter issued on December 21, 2020 will continue to be in place as part of the public interest litigation filed by People’s Union for Civil Liberties. In that order, the state government was prohibited from taking any further action in accordance with the August, 2020 order. The HC on Friday also asked the state government to produce all material on record of every action taken with respect to the August, 2020 state government order.

Indian Express on Friday had reported that one of these cases involved Pratap Simha who was booked by the police officers in 2017. Simha, the Lok Sabha MP from Mysore-Kodagu constituency had allegedly driven his car into the police barricade in Hunsur. Mysuru. He was booked for disobeying a public order, rash driving, preventing a public servant from doing his duty, and voluntarily hurting a public servant among other charges. The IE report said that the case was withdrawn by the trial court in Hunsur on October 10.

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