Court stays probe against Karnataka farmers who protested 7,400-acre township survey

Ravishankar also claimed that farmers were only protesting with brooms in their hands against persons who came to disturb their peaceful possession of the land and did not attempt to murder the officials.

Based on the complaint filed by one Mohammed Sameer, the police had registered the case under Sections 109 (1) (attempt to murder) and Section 74 (assault or criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The petitioners have approached the court seeking to quash the FIR registered against them.

The plea contends that the prosecution has sought to convert the unavoidable push-and-pull of a distressed crowd attempting to protect what they believed to be their ancestral lands into allegations of outraging the modesty of women public servants.

After hearing the arguments, Justice M Nagaprasanna passed an interim order in the matter, stating, “The complainant is no person who has been allegedly assaulted or otherwise. The driver (of a private car) who drove the officers of the joint measurement committee registers the crime; therefore, the very registration of the crime is shrouded with suspicion. In that view of the matter, there shall be a stay on all further investigations.”

What happened during the protest

On July 13, a protest against the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township project in Mandalahalli village under Bengaluru South district turned violent after government officials reached there to conduct a land acquisition survey. Around 7,400 acres of land were to be acquired in nine villages for the project, popularly known as the Bidadi township project.

Though the protesters had blocked the main road leading to the village, officials from the Joint Measurement Committee (JMC) reportedly used alternative roads to reach the site. As word spread, several women from the village hit the streets with brooms. They gathered at the survey spot, resulting in an altercation.

Videos allegedly showed women protesters hitting survey officials with brooms. Another video showed residents chasing away an official. In yet another video, a villager is heard telling a JMC member that none of their objections against the land acquisition process were being considered.

The Bidadi project is considered a pet project of Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. The township project has attracted opposition since the preliminary notification for acquiring around 7,400 acres of land near Bidadi was issued in March.