High Court refuses to quash FIR against Yediyurappa

News Network

December 23, 2020

Bengaluru, Dec 23 : In a major setback to Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain his plea to quash a private complaint alleging that he had carried out ‘denotification of land recklessly’ when he served as the Deputy Chief Minister in 2006-07.

Judge John Michel Cunha in his order observed that he cannot accept the arguments placed by Yediyurappa’s counsel that the FIR be quashed. “To be precise, the entire complaint or the FIR is not quashed. An order passed in favour of accused number 1 (Congress leader R.V. Deshpande) does not benefit the petitioner (Yediyurppa),” the order stated.

The order also directed the Lokayukta court to keep watch over the investigation ordered by the criminal court in respect of the misconduct of public servants, MPs and MLAs involved in the commission of criminal offences.

The order further emphasised that the allegation prima facie disclosed cognisance insofar as the petitioner (Yediyurappa) needs to be investigated.

The judge also noted that accused number 1 (Deshpande) and petitioner (Yediyurappa) occupied public office at different times and in different capacities, and therefore, the argument that the private complaint cannot be construed as just a “conspiracy” and “general allegation”.

The judge asserted that the complaint clearly sought to prosecute the act of denotification of the land done by the petitioner (Yediyurappa) during his tenure as Deputy Chief Minister.

A complaint was filed against Yediyurappa stating that while he was the Deputy Chief Minister in 2006, he had ordered illegal deletion of land notified for IT parks in and around Bellandur and Devarabisanahalli.

The complainant, Vasudeva Reddy, had filed a private complaint in the Lokayukta special court in 2013, wherein he had stated that Yeddyurappa ordered denotification of four acres 30 guntas in survey number 49 in Devarabisanahalli and survey numbers 10, 18, 46/1 in Bellandur. He further alleged that following denotification, the lands were diverted for residential purpose.

The state government had declared the land between Whitefield and Electronic City as IT corridor during 2000-01 for the development of IT and IT-enabled services. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) issued notification in respect of around 500 acres, and in the final notification in respect of only 434 acres including the land adjacent to the Ring Road between Sarjapur Road and Marathahalli which includes the villages of Bellandur, Devarabisanahalli, Kadabisanahalli and Kariammana Agrahara.

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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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