Bengaluru, Jun 9: The High Court of Karnataka on Friday granted an interim stay on the proceedings in a case against Belthangady BJP MLA Harish Poonja for allegedly making objectionable remarks against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The case against Poonja was registered at Belthangady police station over his comments made during his poll victory speech in May claiming that Siddaramaiah had "got 24 Hindu activists killed" during the Congress rule between 2013-18..

Justice M Nagaprasanna granted the stay on a petition by Poonja.

Belthangady Mahila Congress president Namitha K Poojary had lodged a complaint against Poonja over his speech..

The police registered a FIR under Sections 153, 153(A), 505(1)(b), 505(1)(c) and 505(2).

ALSO READ: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar gets relief from K'taka HC in COVID-19 rules violation case

The petition by Poonja stated that the registration of FIR by police after a complaint by a local Congress leader was politically motivated and it was being used as a tool to harass him.

"The petitioner is accused for having committed the offence of causing criminal intimidation and wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot and promoting disharmony among two different religions. But the investigation agency has not done any primary investigation to ascertain whether such provisions are really applicable against the petitioner herein as with no time they have registered the FIR," the petition said. 

All the latest news from Karnataka, just one click away. CLICK here to read all the important news from Karnataka in a single click.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.

Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent. 

Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.

In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.

He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”

Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok. 

The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.

A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.