The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday granted a stay on the first information report (FIR) lodged against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya, who has been accused of posting objectionable tweets about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the stay order today and issued notice to the defendants.
Member of Parliament and advocate, Tejasvi Surya along with advocates advocates Akshay S Vasist and Anirudh A Kulkarni represented Malviya while Special Government Advocate BA Belliyappa represented the State.
Malviya had shared an animated video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Twitter last month.
Following this, Congress party leaders Priyanka Kharge and Ramesh Babu lodged a formal complaint alleging that Malviya had committed offences against the Indian National Congress (INC) and its senior leaders.
The complaint stated that Malviya's actions were intended to incite animosity and hatred within society.
Amit Malviya, along with key BJP leaders, JP Nadda and Arun Sood, were accused of sharing a malicious and false animated video targeting Rahul Gandhi.
The complaint further contended that the video, which was circulated on June 17 via Malviya's Twitter handle, aimed not only to tarnish the reputation of Rahul Gandhi and the INC party but also to incite communal discord and misrepresent the party and its leaders.
Consequently, the High Grounds police in Bengaluru registered an FIR against Malviya, citing the offence of public mischief and other offences under the Indian Penal Code.