‘Highly unimaginable’: Karnataka HC quashes case against BJP members over ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan | Today’s news
The Karnataka High Court has quashed the criminal case against some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members accused of raising the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad” during a protest, noting that it was highly unlikely that party members would have raised such a slogan, LiveLaw reported.
Justice V. Srishananda accepted the petitioners’ explanation that the slogan was allegedly a misstep and “Pakistan Zindabad” was raised instead of “Pakistan Murdabad”.
“At the outset, in a demonstration organized by the Bharathiya Janatha Party – a political party, it is highly inconceivable that the protestors would have raised the slogan ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. It is in this context that the petitioner’s argument that the words Zindabad instead of Murdha were mistakenly inserted in the stream of slogan raising,” the court observed.
The Supreme Court heard a petition filed by Dr. S. Ravi Kumar, who sought to quash the criminal proceedings pending before the Principal Senior Civil Judge and CJM, Mandya.
A case was registered by the West Police Station, Mandya, under sections 153B and 505(1)(B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) following a complaint by an individual named Kannambadi Kumar, LiveLaw reported.
What was the controversy of the slogan of the BJP protesters in Pakistan Zindabad?
According to the complaint, BJP members staged a protest on 18 December 2022 during which some protesters allegedly raised the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad”.
The complainant alleged that he was mentally disturbed by hearing the slogan and sought action against those involved.
The petitioner claimed that the slogan was unintentional and that it was not intended to create unrest in the society or target any particular community.
In view of the fact that these were typos, the petitioner demanded that the criminal prosecution be stopped.
However, the state countered the objection and argued that the video submitted by the complainant clearly shows that the words “Pakistan Zindabad” were used.
She argued that the investigation should continue.
The state also said that the protest was organized against a controversial statement by Pakistan’s foreign minister and alleged that the petitioner had raised the slogan with the intention of creating unrest in the society.
Why did the Karnataka High Court quash the criminal case?
The High Court noted that the complaint was filed only on the basis of the video footage almost two years after the alleged incident.
It also noted that the investigating agency was not able to identify the persons who participated in the demonstration or to ascertain whether the raising of the alleged slogans led to any consequences or consequences.
The court decided that continuing the criminal proceedings would be unnecessary and would mean an abuse of procedural law.
He also observed that prior sanction was not obtained before initiation of prosecution under Section 505 IPC.
Considering these factors, the High Court of Karnataka decided to quash the criminal proceedings against the petitioners.
