BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday orally asked BJP MLC N Ravi Kumar to tender an apology to Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Fauzia Tarannum for his controversial remarks against her.
A vacation bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj asked Ravi Kumar to apologise while hearing a petition filed by him seeking to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against him in Station Bazar Police Station of Kalaburagi under various provisions of BNS and SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
When the matter was taken up for hearing, the court orally said, “These are not the statements to be made and you (Ravi Kumar) have seen what happened in Madhya Pradesh and the Supreme Court, with a sitting minister, you are no different. You cannot be making such kind of statements.”
The court asked the petitioner’s counsel to advise his client to speak to the DC to bring a closure to the matter and mitigate it. Meanwhile, the counsel appearing for Ravi Kumar submitted that an apology had been made by his client.
Then the court said that after making the apology, it has to be accepted by the person.
“You make your apologies to her and let her accept and place it on record and then the court will consider the submission until then it is difficult to consider,” the court observed while recording the statement made by the counsel about apology and directing him to file the affidavit to that effect on the next date of hearing.
At this stage, the Additional State Public Prosecutor submitted that what is written in the complaint is half of what is said and recorded in the video. Time is required to file the objections to the petition, he pleaded, while opposing the petition.
Then the court issued notice to the state police and to the complainant Dattatraya Ikkalaki. It also directed the government advocate to place on record the video in question in a pen drive.
The court also recorded the statement of the Additional State Public Prosecutor that they would not take any coercive steps against Ravi Kumar so long as he cooperates with the investigation.