The Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed criminal proceedings initiated against Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a case alleging that he shared a morphed image of a protest staged by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) [D K Shivakumar v. State of Karnataka].

Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed Shivakumar's petition and set aside the proceedings initiated against him.

Appearing for Shivakumar, Advocate HV Praveen Gowda contended that offences under Sections 153A, 505(2), 504 and 464 of the Indian Penal Code had been invoked solely on the premise that the allegedly objectionable post had been shared through Shivakumar's social media handle.

He argued that the image was uploaded by a person heading the social media team. The complaint, he said, sought to implicate Shivakumar merely because he headed the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and alleged that such content could not have been posted without his permission.

The case stemmed from a protest organised by BJP leaders against the arrest of Srikanth Pujari, who had participated in the agitation relating to the demolition of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. During the demonstration, BJP leaders held placards stating,

"I'm also a Kar Sevak, arrest me too."

According to the complaint, the Congress IT Cell altered the text on the placards to make it appear as though BJP leaders were admitting involvement in scams and other irregularities. The edited image was allegedly uploaded on social media and later shared through Shivakumar's account.

The private complaint was filed by BJP Legal Cell State Convener Yogendra Hodaghatta before the Special Court for MPs and MLAs, alleging that the post amounted to the use of a false document and was intended to create enmity between communities.

The special court in Bengaluru had directed the city police to launch a probe against Shivakumar.