K'taka HC dismisses former Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde’s plea to quash case of assaulting doctor
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has dismissed a petition filed by former Union Minister and BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde seeking the quashing of a criminal case registered against him for allegedly assaulting a doctor in Uttara Kannada district. With the dismissal of his plea, the interim stay on trial proceedings has also been lifted, paving the way for the case to move forward.
The matter came up before Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav on Thursday. The petition had challenged an FIR registered suo motu by the New Market Police Station in Sirsi. When the case was called for hearing, no one appeared on behalf of Hegde. Justice Yadav reportedly remarked, “If no one appears, I will dismiss the petition.”
Additional Government Pleader B.N. Jagadeesh informed the court that although the government had been directed to be furnished with a copy of the petition, the same had not been provided. Consequently, the court dismissed the petition.
The interim order staying the investigation was originally granted on September 20, 2017, and was extended several times thereafter. The last extension was granted on August 29, 2024, when Justice M. Nagaprasanna’s bench gave the petitioner a “final opportunity.” Despite repeated adjournments, neither Hegde nor his counsel appeared in subsequent hearings, including on March 6, April 7, and July 30, 2025. The court noted a consistent lack of diligence and, therefore, dismissed the petition.
The case dates back to January 2, 2017, when Hegde’s mother, Lalitha Hegde, was taken to TSS Hospital in Sirsi by his brother Eshwar Esale. Dr. Madhukeshwar Hegde, the attending physician, diagnosed a fracture in her left thigh joint and recommended surgery. Eshwar reportedly left to consult family doctors but did not return for over half an hour.
Later that night, when Anantkumar and Eshwar returned, they allegedly called Dr. Madhukeshwar back to the hospital and assaulted him. Hospital staff members Balachandra Bhat and Rahul Mashalekar were also allegedly manhandled by Eshwar. Although the staff did not initially file a complaint, the incident was reported in the media.
Following the review of CCTV footage, police officer Raghu Kanade lodged a complaint on January 5, 2017, leading to the registration of an FIR against Anantkumar Hegde and his brother under relevant sections of the IPC (506, 341, 34, 323) and the Karnataka Prohibition of Violence Against Medicare Service Personnel and Damage to Property in Medicare Service Institutions Act (Section 4).
Hegde subsequently approached the High Court seeking to quash the proceedings, which has now been dismissed after years of delay and repeated non-appearance by the petitioner’s side.
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
