Sarvottama to contest for DK Kannada Sahitya Parishat'

March 10, 2012

Mangalore, March 10: With an objective of relieving Pradeep Kumar Kalkura from his position as the president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat district unit, which he had held for 10 years, a splinter group made public their decision to back some other candidate in the election for the post of the president.

Parishat former chief Harikrishna Punaroor, heading the splinter group, told reporters here on Friday that Sarvottama Anchan Mulki will be the next candidate for the district unit president post. Kalkura had been in the post for the past one decade. The allegation against Kalkura on misusing the post is the main reason behind the move to support other candidate, he added.

The president had failed to conduct the annual general body meeting for two successive terms. In an annual meeting , he failed to table the audit report of the parishat which has over 1950 members. His monopoly style of functioning had prompted many literary personalities to question whether the forum was a private body to be run at the whims of a single person, he charged.

Punaroor also declared Sarvottama Anchan as the next candidate who would be supported by taluk units of the KSP. He may not be a literary person but is a good organiser of many literature related programs, Punaroor clarified while defending their choice of candidate.

Pradeep Kumar Kalkura however denied all the allegations hurled at him and said he would hand over the post after he receives a letter from the Kannada and Culture Department. The allegations are being made to create controversy, he said.

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HC refuses to quash probe against Mangaluru WhatsApp admin over offensive posts

News Network

February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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