Karnataka High Court stays FIR against Tejasvi Surya over tweet on farmer's suicide
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has issued an interim stay on the investigation against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who faced an FIR for allegedly spreading fake news regarding the suicide of a farmer in Haveri district.
The court's order came after Surya filed a petition seeking the quashing of the FIR filed by the Haveri police in response to his post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Justice M Nagaprasanna, while granting the stay, observed that the allegations against Surya, under section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), did not, prima facie, constitute an offence. The judge further noted that Surya had deleted the tweet and cited a media interview by the deceased farmer's father, which could potentially support Surya's position. The case will be heard again on December 4, 2024.
Surya's tweet had linked the farmer's suicide to the Karnataka government's handling of the Waqf issue, claiming the farmer took his life after his land was allegedly taken over by the Waqf Board. The tweet read, "A farmer in Haveri commits suicide after finding his land taken over by Waqf! In their haste to appease minorities, CM Siddaramaiah and Minister B. Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day."
In response to the police's clarification that the farmer's death was due to loan-related stress, Surya deleted the tweet. However, the state government argued that Surya's post could incite communal tensions and negatively impact society.
Justice Nagaprasanna questioned whether the state's action of registering an FIR was justified, stating, "Is what is happening also correct? Just yesterday, I said that every action has an equal and opposite reaction."
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IPS officer Abdul Ahad appointed BMTC Security and Vigilance Director
Bengaluru: Senior IPS officer Abdul Ahad, who was serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of the Bengaluru City Crime Branch (CCB), has been transferred as the Director of Security and Vigilance for BMTC.
Earlier, the senior officer from Mangaluru’s Moodbidri served as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Coastal Security Police. In September last year, he was appointed as the DCP of the CCB.
Abdul Ahad has also held several key positions, including DCP of Bengaluru’s Whitefield division, SP of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Bengaluru, SP of the Economic Offences Wing at CID, and Commandant at KSRP.
