BENGALURU: Taking serious note of the allegations of obstructing traffic and disturbing law and order during the 2022 protest in the city, ignoring warnings by the police, the Karnataka High Court refused to quash the criminal proceedings initiated against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and four other senior Congress leaders and imposed Rs 10,000 cost on each of them to be paid to the CM's Fund.
The four other accused are Rajya Sabha member and AICC general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka Congress Randeep Singh Surjewala, Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and MLC Saleem Ahmed. The court directed them to appear personally before the magistrate, designated to try cases against sitting and former MPs and MLAs, to face the trial on the dates specified in the order.
The cost was imposed on them for the unjustifiable act of dragging the woman police sub-inspector Jahida, who registered a case against them, by arraying her as a respondent in her personal capacity though she discharged her official duty.
"Had she been made a party in her official capacity, arguably that could not have been faltered. This court deprecates the practice of arraying officials in their personal capacity. Permitting their arraignment as such will have a demoralizing effect on the administration of law and order. Public servants should be allowed to discharge their duty without fear or favour," said Justice Krishna S Dixit while dismissing the petitions filed by the accused.
The court noted that the police after investigation have filed the charge sheet, invoking the provisions of Section 143 of IPC and Section 103 of KP Act. "In view of this, the action of the police cannot be faltered in these proceedings and hence the case pending before the trial court cannot be interdicted. The police contended that they had instructed the congregating persons that they should not assemble on the public road in question. However, according to police, these instructions were disobeyed and the accused in an unlawful assembly had prevented the flow of traffic on the said road and had created law and order problems, too... Whether these allegations are true, is a disputed question of facts which cannot be readily examined by this court," the high court said.
On the contentions that the petitioners are ministers/elected representatives, the court said that this court in more or less similar matters relegated the accused to the trial courts reserving liberty to seek discharge from the case, if grounds do exist. "There is no extraordinary circumstance that warrants this court leaving the beaten track. It is open to them to appear before the magistrate and seek discharge. "'Howsoever high thou art be, law is above you', goes the saying," the court noted.
The accused had prayed to the high court to quash the First Information Report registered by the High Grounds Police pursuant to the complaint dated April 14, 2022, and charge sheet dated February 12, 2023, and all further proceedings pending before the magistrate. The group led by the accused abruptly walked on the public road from Madhavanagar at around 12.30 pm obstructing traffic and disturbing law and order to stage a protest at the official residence of the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, demanding the resignation of K S Eshwarappa as minister over the suicide of a contractor.