Play all audios:
BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday has set aside the decision taken by the state government to withdraw the prosecution of the accused, including former ministers and MLAs, in
43 criminal cases registered in various police stations of the state. The 2022 Hubballi riots case one among the 43 cases. The division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV
Aravind pronounced the order while allowing the public interest litigation filed by city-based lawyer Girish Bharadwaj questioning the legality of the government order dated October 15,
2024. Referring to the contention of the petitioner that the decision in question is against Section 321 of CrPC, the court said that if allowed to be sustained the said decision, it would
work contrary to the object and spirit of Section 321, discounting the rule of law and working in its ultimate analysis, against the public interest. In view of this, it is declared that the
order shall stand non-est from the inception. The consequences in law shall follow, the court said while setting aside the order. It was contended before the court that the Sl.No. 6 in the
impugned order was a case where a request was initiated by one organisation called Anjuman-E Islam and also by the Deputy Chief Minister for the withdrawal of cases. The petitioner contended
that several criminal cases have been registered with different police stations across the state between 2008 and 2023. Out of these cases, 43 cases are selected to be withdrawn from the
prosecution.