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Karnataka High Court quashes case against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over ‘fake post’ regarding farmer suicide

Tejasvi Surya and two editors of Kannada news portals were booked for allegedly promoting enmity between communities.

Sharing the article of the news portals on 'X', the Bengaluru South MP on November 7 alleged that a farmer in Haveri district died by suicide after finding his land had been taken over by the Board.Sharing the article of the news portals on 'X', the Bengaluru South MP on November 7 alleged that a farmer in Haveri district died by suicide after finding his land had been taken over by the Board. (X/@TejasviSurya)

The Karnataka High Court Thursday quashed a case filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya in a case of spreading fake news regarding the suicide of a farmer in the state’s Haveri district in 2022.

On November 8 this year, Surya posted on X claiming the farmer had ended his life after his land was taken over by the Waqf board, and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan had unleashed “catastrophic effects” on account of minority appeasement. He deleted the post after the police issued a clarification.

The police complaint also stated that the farmer died by suicide because of outstanding debts and his inability to repay the amount. The Bangalore South MP and two editors of Kannada news portals were booked under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by the Haveri Cybercrime, Economic and Narcotic Offences Police.

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Section 353(2) prohibits the publication or dissemination of information likely to foster enmity based on religion, race, caste, or community. A conviction under this BNS section could result in imprisonment for up to three years, a fine, or both.

Later, a probe into the matter was stayed by the Karnataka High Court.

The news of the death of the farmer came at a time when Jagadambika Pal, a BJP MP who is the chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill was in nearby Hubbali to hear grievances of farmers who claimed to have received notices for being in occupation of Waqf land.

The Indian Express had reported earlier that the High Court was of the view that “prima facie” the post by the BJP MP “would not become an offence or ingredients of an offence under Section 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code as is held by the apex court while elucidating the identical Section 153 A of the IPC, the purpose of which is akin to Section 505 (2) of IPC,” in the cases of Javed Ahmed Hajam and Shivaprasad in 2024. “Therefore, there shall be an interim order of stay in any investigation against the petitioner,” the HC ruled.

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On December 5, the State counsel opposed the plea during the hearing of arguments stating the post gave the impression that the present establishment was responsible for such occurrences. Surya’s counsel stated, “The allegation is that he has made certain tweets based on a news item… even assuming the tweet was not deleted, there are no ingredients of Section 353 BNS. But as a matter of fact he had deleted the tweet after the clarification issued by the superintendent of police. The criminal proceedings would not survive….”

The differing statements made by the farmer’s father in 2022, and more recently about the cause of his son’s death were also the subject of arguments in court.

When the matter came up for further hearing Thursday, the bench ruled that Tejasvi Surya’s petition was allowed and the proceedings against him were quashed. The full court order relating to the matter is yet to be published.

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