K’taka BJP goes the Yogi way, revokes 62 criminal cases against its leaders
Following in the footsteps of UP chief minister Yogi Adiyanath, BS Yediyurappa-led BJP government in Karnataka has decided to withdraw a bulk of criminal cases registered against its leaders in the past.
The cases include those which were registered against its leaders for creating communal tensions or violating prohibitory orders issued during religious events. Some of the prominent leaders spared include MP Prathap Simha, state ministers – Renukacharya, J C Madhswamy, C T Ravi, BC Patil, among others.
The government withdrew the cases despite the law department and the police suggesting otherwise. In July, the cabinet sub-committee recommended withdrawing 62 cases and on August 22, the cabinet approved the proposal.
One of the prominent leaders who has been spared is Prathap Simha, a fierce Hindutva proponent and an MP from Mysuru, who was booked for violating prohibitory orders and taking out a rally on December 3, 2017, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi. The MP had made remarks against religious minorities and repeatedly reminded on social media that the police behaved partisan by allowing Eid and Tipu Jayanthi rally as planned, but posed route restrictions for the Hanuman Jayanthi.
It was at this time that Simha had gone on record (as per the viral video) to say that Home Minister Amit Shah “wanted his party members to hold aggressive protests and ensure tear gas shelling and baton-charging in Karnataka”.
A case has been withdrawn against Yediyurappa’s political secretary Renukacharya and his supporters for “illegal assembly” outside the residence of a defeated Congress candidate in Honnali. Some days back, Renukarcharya had said it was “not wrong” to shoot hiding attendees of Tablighi Jamaat event.
In Karnataka, a case against Agriculture Minister BC Patil, who was charged in a 2012 case (while he was in Congress) for abusing police personnel by throwing stones and chappals at them, stands withdrawn.
Cases were also withdrawn against Law Minister JC Madhuswamy and Tourism Minister CT Ravi, charged under sections 143 (unlawful assembly) and 147 (rioting) in 2015. between students of two communities in Mysuru district’s Hunsur city in November 2015.
Madhuswamy claimed this was a “routine affair”. “We have withdrawn cases in the past as well in which Congress and JD(S) leaders were involved. But this cannot mean that those involved in cases like the Bengaluru riots and loot will be spared,” he told News18.
MLA Anand Singh too has been spared for allegedly assaulting a public servant and damaging properties by pelting stones.
Last year, the Yogi Adityanath government in UP withdrew 75 cases (charges of dacoity, use of fire, explosives, defiling places of worship etc) against some of the accused in the Muzzaffarnagar riots of 2013.
Similarly, in 2017 the UP government had recommended withdrawing cases against Adityanath and 14 others for defying prohibitory orders in 1995. In 2017, the government told the Allahabad High Court that he (Adityanath) cannot be prosecuted for his hate speech remarks during the communal riots in Gorakhpur in 2007.
In a similar trend, former Maharashtra Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule in August demanded withdrawal of cases against him for violating the lockdown orders and celebrating the start of Ram Temple construction on August 5.
