SC quashes criminal case against Chakravarthy Sulibele for calling Mallikarjun Kharge ‘Ayogya’
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a criminal case filed by Karnataka Police against right-wing orator and writer Chakravarthy Sulibele, who had referred to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge as ‘Ayogya’ during a public speech.
The order was passed by a bench comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and N. Kotiswar Singh.
Sulibele had made the remark in January 2024 while addressing a public gathering in Raichur, where he described Kharge using the term ‘Ayogya’. Following the speech, Jagadev Guttedar Kalagi, president of the Kalaburagi Congress unit, filed a complaint accusing Sulibele of using the term to incite hatred and violence against Kharge’s community. Subsequently, the Karnataka Police registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Challenging the case, Sulibele moved the Karnataka High Court. In October 2024, the High Court quashed the charges filed under the SC/ST Act but allowed the investigation under IPC provisions to continue.
Sulibele then approached the Supreme Court. In his petition, he argued that the High Court had wrongly interpreted the word ‘Ayogya’ as ‘rascal’. He contended that ‘Ayogya’ has several meanings in Indian languages, and the closest interpretation would be ‘inefficient’ or ‘incompetent’, not a derogatory or caste-based insult.
The Supreme Court, after examining the arguments, quashed the entire case, providing relief to Sulibele.
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Pune airport runway restored after IAF aircraft snag; ops resume
Pune (PTI): The runway at Pune airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational, the Air Force said on Saturday.
The authorities at the Pune International Airport had earlier said that around 10.25 pm on Friday, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage failure during landing, causing the runway to be blocked.
As many as 91 flights of airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Akasa, and Air India Express, were affected due to the incident, they said.
Earlier on Friday night, the Air Force had stated that the runway at Pune airport was temporarily unavailable following an incident involving one of its fighter aircraft. The aircrew are safe, and there is no damage to civil property, it had said.
"The runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational. All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner," it said in a post on X.
Flight operations at Pune airport are being gradually restored. The situation has been brought under control with the highest priority given to the safety of citizens, a Defence PRO said.
