Karnataka HC Refuses To Quash Case Against Man Accused Of Derogatory Facebook Post On Home Minister Priyank Kharge & B R Ambedkar, Imposes ₹25K Cost
The man is charged with offences under the SC/ST Act and BNS.
Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde, Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash a criminal case registered against a man booked for making a derogatory post about the caste of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and the Home Minister Priyank Kharge. The High Court termed the petition a gross abuse of the process of the Court and imposed cost of Rs. 25,000 on the man.
The High Court was considering a petition seeking quashing of the charge sheet in a case registered under Sections 352, 238, 241 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 3(1)(r)(s)(u) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The Single Bench of Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde held, “The Court after having gone through the contents of the complaint, is of the view that this petition is nothing but a gross abuse of the process of the Court. Not a single ground is made out to quash the proceedings. On the other hand, the charge sheet materials clearly indicate that the matter has to be tried.”
Advocate Sanath Kumara. K.M. represented the Petitioner, while Addl. Special Public Prosecutor M V Anoop Kumar represented the Respondent.
Arguments
It was the case of the petitioner that the complaint was filed by a member of a political party referring to Facebook content allegedly published by the petitioner, and the person who was allegedly named in the statement in the publication on Facebook had not filed a complaint.
The Additional State Public Prosecutor submitted that the Facebook publication was with reference to the caste of a political leader and also with reference to the caste of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and the Police were justified in investigating the matter.
Reasoning
The Bench found no ground to quash the proceedings. Considering that the charge sheet materials indicated that the matter had to be tried, the Bench dismissed the Petition.
The Bench thus imposed a cost of Rs. 25,000. “The cost shall be paid to the District Legal Service Authority, Mysuru”, it ordered.
Cause Title: Mahesha K C @ Mahesh Gowda v. State of Karnataka (Neutral Citation: 2026:KHC:60852)