K'taka HC grants interim stay on probe against BJP MP Surya

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

The Karnataka High Court granted an interim stay on the investigation against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in a case involving alleged fake news about the suicide of a farmer in Haveri district on Thursday. The case stemmed from a post Surya made on social media platform X, which led to an FIR being filed by the Haveri police as reported by The Bar and Bench. Justice M Nagaprasanna issued the interim order after hearing a petition filed by Surya seeking the quashing of the FIR. The judge noted that the petitioner, a parliamentarian, was accused under section 505(2) of the IPC (previously section 353(2) of the BNS). The case was based on a suo motu complaint by the police inspector, who acted on Surya's tweet.

The counsel for Surya contended that the tweet had been deleted and referred to an interview with the deceased farmer’s father, which he argued would exonerate Surya’s position. The High Court agreed, stating that the circumstances didn’t appear to meet the criteria for an offence under section 505(2) of the IPC as per Supreme Court rulings. According to The Bar and Bench report Surya's senior counsel, Aruna Shyam, argued that the post was made based on a news report, in which Surya had claimed that the farmer’s suicide was linked to his land being taken over by Waqf and criticised the actions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan. Shyam added that Surya deleted the tweet once police clarified that the suicide was due to the farmer’s financial struggles. The state government opposed Surya’s plea, arguing that the post could promote social discord. However, Justice Nagaprasanna questioned whether registering an FIR was the right course of action, emphasising that every action has consequences. The case will be revisited on December 4.