Court orders registration of criminal case against BJP MLA Basanagouda Yatnal
Yatnal had said half of Pakistan stays in Dinesh Gundu Rao's house
Bijapur: The Hon’ble Special Court constituted to try MP and MLA cases (42ACMM) has directed the registration of a criminal case against BJP MLA Basanagouda Yatnal. This decision follows a private complaint filed by Tabassum Dinesh Rao, who alleged that Yatnal made defamatory remarks targeting her and her family.
The complaint stems from a statement made by Yatnal during the Lok Sabha elections on 6 April 2024, where he addressed the media and made derogatory comments about Mr. Dinesh Gundu Rao, the Hon’ble Minister for Health, Karnataka, and his wife, Tabassum Rao. Yatnal reportedly stated that "half of Pakistan resides in Dinesh Gundu Rao’s house," insinuating anti-national sentiments due to Mrs. Rao’s religion.
The inflammatory remarks were widely reported in the Praja Vani newspaper and by several regional Kannada media channels. The statement, which questioned the integrity and allegiance of Mrs. Rao to the Indian Constitution and laws, caused severe distress to her and her family, including their two daughters.
Yatnal, who has a history of making derogatory remarks against Muslims, allegedly referred to Mrs. Rao as "Pakistani" due to her Islamic faith and her inter-religious marriage. The complaint highlighted previous instances, including a speech on 6 March 2024, during the Shivaji Jayanthi celebrations, where Mr. Yatnal allegedly stated that if he were the Home Minister, he would organize encounters to eliminate all Muslims in Vijayapura.
In response to these remarks, a private complaint seeking the registration of a case for offences under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was filed on 15 April 2024. Evidence was presented before the court on 31 July 2024, including newspaper reports and other materials.
After considering the evidence and the content of the private complaint, the Hon’ble Special Court has now taken cognizance of the case and ordered the registration of a criminal case against Yatnal. Advocates Surya Mukundaraj and Sanjay Yadav B. represented Tabassum Rao before the court.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
