Karnataka High Court quashes FIR against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya for fake news on farmer suicide

The Karnataka High Court Thursday quashed a first information report (FIR) registered by the Karnataka High Court against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya in an alleged case of spreading fake news regarding the suicide of a farmer in Haveri district in the Sate..Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order on a plea by Surya seeking to quash the case. Detailed order awaited..On November 8 this year, Surya had posted on his X handle that a farmer in the State had committed suicide after his land was taken over by the Waqf board."A farmer in Haveri commits suicide after finding his land taken over by Waqf! In their haste to appease minorities, CM Siddaramaiah and Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan have unleashed catastrophic effects in Karnataka that are becoming impossible to contain with every passing day," his post read. He had also posted links to a news story from a local portal that made such claim.The police subsequently issued a clarification saying the deceased had committed suicide due to mounting debts. Surya was then booked Haveri Cybercrime, Economic and Narcotic Offences Police, for spreading fake news under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)..Surya's counsel, Senior Advocate Aruna Shyam told the Court that the BJP MP had immediately deleted his tweet after its contents were disputed and that he had had no intention to create any unrest.The State argued that Surya's tweet gave an impression that the present dispensation had unleashed this kind of act that had resulted in the deceased's suicide. It was contended that the BJP MP had deliberately made a post on social media to suggest that the Congress government in the State was responsible for the farmer's deathThe High Court then reserved its orders on Surya's plea and said it will only examine whether the ingredients of section 353(2) of the BNS were met or not..On November 14, the High Court had temporarily stayed the FIR against Surya.