Karnataka HC stays FIR registered against Tejasvi Surya

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday stayed the investigation into the first information report (FIR) registered by the Haveri police against Lok Sabha member Tejasvi Surya for allegedly creating enmity among groups/religions by circulating “false information” in a social media post in connection with the death of a farmer who had ended his life in 2022.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the interim order while observing that the contents of the complaint prima facie would not become ingredients for an offence under Section 353(2) of the BNS.

A farmer, Rudrappa, from Haranagiri village in Hangal taluk of Haveri district ended his life on January 6, 2022. However, his father gave an interview to certain media outlets during the first week of November 2024, alleging that his son had ended his life after knowing that name of wakf was entered in the revenue records of their land.

Mr. Surya, with links to the report, had posted on X on November 7, 2024, that in “their haste to appease minorities, CM Siddaramaiah and Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka…” IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge had called out Mr. Surya for “spreading misinformation and fuelling communal tension for electoral gain”.

The Superintendent of Police, Haveri district, issued a press release stating that Rudrappa’s father, in his statement given to the police, had stated that “Rudrappa had taken loans of ₹7 lakh and suffered extensive crop damage due to excessive rains, pushing him to take the extreme step”. Mr. Surya, following this clarification, delated his social media post.