Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Saturday issued an interim stay to the case filed against BJP Leader K.S. Eshwarappa for his alleged, ‘We don’t want Muslim votes,’ remark.
A single-judge bench of the High Court heard the petition filed by KS Eshwarappa seeking quashing of the case against him.
After listening to the arguments of the petitioner's counsel for some time, the bench granted an interim stay to the case and adjourned the hearing to December 15. Advocate M. Vinod Kumar argued for KS Eshwarappa.
Eshwarappa is said to have made the controversial statement during a meeting of the Veerashaiva Lingayat community on April 25, 2023, at the residence of former Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa in Shivamogga, held during the assembly elections. As reported by a private news agency on its social media account, Eshwarappa was quoted saying, “There are 50 to 55 thousand Muslim voters in Shivamogga. We don't want a single Muslim vote.”
Based on the news reported on social media, H. Mahesh, the flying squad team officer of Shivamogga Assembly Constituency, lodged a complaint with the Vinoba Nagar police station on May 6. The Shivamogga JMFC judge granted permission to the Vinoba Nagar police to investigate the case, simultaneously an FIR was registered on May 8. The hearing of the case was initially scheduled for December 2, but the Hight court stayed it.
The petitioner requesting for the quashing of the case, argued that the complaint was filed based on information obtained from an ‘X’ account of a private news agency, since there is no compelling evidence in the case, and investigating it would be a misuse of the law.
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Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
