Comedy Skit Meant To Make People Laugh: Karnataka High Court Quashes SC-ST Act FIR Over "Kokke Korava" Dialogue
The Court noted that no caste name in the script and that the word was allegedly used in a slip of tongue in the Zee Kannada Show.
The Karnataka High Court has quashed an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 against the makers of the Zee Kannada comedy show “Comedy Kiladigalu”. The FIR was registered over the use of the words “Kokke Korava” in a skit. The Court held that a comedy skit meant to make people laugh does not attract the Act unless there is an intention to humiliate a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Tribe, and the accused know of his caste.
The Court noted that the caste name did not appear in the script and was used, it said, in a slip of tongue. It relied on the Supreme Court’s decisions in Hitesh Verma v. State of Uttarakhand (2010) and Ramesh Chandra Vaishya v. State of U.P. (2023), and held that continuing the proceedings would amount to a miscarriage of justice.
A Single Bench of Justice H.P. Sandesh observed, “…when the skit of Comedy Kiladigalu was telecasted and the very intention of that skit is also to make the people to laugh, but that doesn't mean to hurt anybody belongs to if any particular community and while doing the same also there must be an intention and the same must be in public view that too with an intention to humiliate a person”.
“When such caste name is also not found in the script and in a slip of tongue, the same is used and not having any intention, it does not attract the provisions of Section 3(10) of SC/ST POA Act and there must be an intention to humiliate a person particularly belonging to particular caste and all of them should know that he belongs to the particular caste, then only it attracts the same. But this is only a skit which was telecasted and the same was earlier was recorded and subsequently it was telecasted…”, it noted.
Senior Advocate Dhananjay Joshi appeared for the petitioner and Mohammed Ayub Ali, Additional SPP appeared for the respondent.
The complainant alleged that on January 16, 2021, at 9 pm, a comedian in “Comedy Kiladigalu” on Zee Kannada used the words “Kokke Korava” in a skit, and that this insulted and humiliated the Korama community. Ashoknagar Police registered a case on January 22, 2021, which was transferred to the Subramanyapura Police. Five persons moved the High Court in three petitions.
They were the comedian, the channel’s business head, and a senior executive producer, an associate producer and a production manager.
The petitioners said the skit had been recorded earlier and that “Kokke” means hooked, while “Korava” is a fish. They said there is no caste called “Kokke Korava”, and that Section 3(1)(r) of the Act requires intentional insult or humiliation in public view. They also said the channel had edited the episode and re-telecast it, stating that it had no intention to humiliate anyone.
The State argued that the matter required investigation, and that intention could not be examined in a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (now Section 528 of the BNSS). The complainant’s counsel did not pursue the matter, and the Court heard the petitions in his absence.
The Court perused the script and found no caste name in it. It held that intention to humiliate, and knowledge that the person belongs to the caste, are necessary for the offence. It observed that the purpose of the skit was to make people laugh, not to hurt anyone.
The Court allowed the petitions and quashed the FIR dated January 22, 2021 registered by the Ashoknagar Police Station, Bengaluru.
Cause Title: Manu C. v. State of Karnataka & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2026:KHC:62244)
Appearances:
Petitioners: Senior Advocate Dhananjay Joshi with Advocate Vikram Unni Rajagopal.
Respondent: Additional State Public Prosecutor Mohammed Ayub Ali, Advocate Allah Bakash M.