Karnataka High Court refuses to quash case against man booked over derogatory FB post about Dr. Ambedkar, Priyank Kharge

The Karnataka High Court refused to quash a criminal case filed against a man accused of publishing a derogatory Facebook post referring to the caste of Dr BR Ambedkar and Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge.

Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde held that the allegations required a trial and that no grounds had been made out to interfere with the criminal proceedings.

“Not a single ground is made out to quash the proceedings. On the other hand, the charge sheet materials clearly indicate that the matter has to be tried,” the Court observed.

The Court, therefore, dismissed a petition filed by the accused to quash the chargesheet, terming it a "gross abuse of the process of the Court." It also ordered the petitioner-accused to pay costs of ₹25,000 to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Mysuru.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by Mahesha KC, alias Mahesh Gowda. Mahesha was booked in a criminal case following a complaint lodged by S Vijaykumar, a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) functionary. The complaint accused Mahesha of posting derogatory remarks against Priyank Kharge on Facebook.

According to the complaint, Mahesha also referred to the Minister's caste and questioned his respect for Dr BR Ambedkar by stating that Ambedkar was born into the same caste.

The chargesheet filed by the Mysuru South Police in the case invoked Sections 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will and other specified documents) and 241 (destruction or concealment of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). Provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were also invoked.

In his plea to quash this chargesheet, Mahesha's counsel argued that the complaint had been lodged by a person who was not the alleged victim of the Facebook publication. Therefore, the complainant was not entitled to initiate criminal proceedings in the matter, he argued. He added that the Facebook post did not constitute any criminal offence.

Additional State Public Prosecutor MV Anoop Kumar maintained that the police were justified in investigating the allegations and filing the chargesheet.

After considering the rival arguments, the Court proceeded to dismiss the plea.

Advocate KM Sanath Kumara appeared for the petitioner.

[Read Judgment]