Bengaluru court calls for FIR against Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara over ₹500 bet on Kabaddi match

A Bengaluru court on Tuesday directed the Kodigehalli Police Station to file a first information report (FIR) against Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara and Deputy Commissioner Shubha Kalyan for allegedly indulging in a ₹500 bet during a kabaddi competition held in Tumakuru last year.

42nd Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate KN Shivakumar relied on vernacular newspaper reports to state that there appeared to be a prima facie case. He went on to note that the police had dismissed the complaint as baseless and lacking evidence.

"Further, on perusal of the endorsement given by the PSI, Kodigehalli Police Station, it appears that said police have neither considered the reports of Newspapers nor appears to have summoned any documents / evidences from the complainant before giving such an endorsement as to the complaint is baseless and lack of evidence," the Court said.

As per reports, Parameshwara and Kalyan had entered a bet of ₹500 against the Dakshina Kannada District Team in a kabbadi competition held in Tumakuru. As the Dakshina Kannada District Team won the competition, the Minister G Parameshwara narrated in a public statement to the media about him losing the bet.

The Court clarified that prior sanction of the concerned authority or the government is not required as the alleged offences were not part of the official duties of Parameshwara and Kalyan.

The matter will be next heard on April 30, 2026.