Mangalore Police Firing case: Karnataka HC directs State Police to withdraw endorsements

The Karnataka High Court today directed the State Police to withdraw endorsements that were filed based on complaints received in the Mangaluru police firing that occurred in December, in the wake of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar observed that filing endorsements instead of First Information Reports (FIRs) is beyond the powers of the police. Hence, the same had to be withdrawn..The Court further directed the District Magistrate to submit an enquiry report in the matter by March 24. The Court also granted two weeks' time to the petitioners to file rejoinder..While passing its order, the High Court additionally observed that multiple FIRs cannot be filed for the same incident..Subsequent to the Court's previous order, one person had come forward on February 19 and handed over a pen drive that contained 50 clips However, it was brought to the attention of the Court by the state that the same was not considered as it was "not possible to trace the genuineness" of the clips..Deliberate attempt to cover up police excesses: Karnataka HC grants bail to anti-CAA protestors jailed in Mangalore .Last week, the High Court had granted bail to 21 persons in Mangalore jailed for offences allegedly committed during protests against the CAA..While doing so, the Court observed that there was a deliberate attempt on the part of the Mangalore police to cover up excesses committed against anti-CAA protestors. .The Court noted that the police had killed two persons and injured several others during the violence that followed the crackdown on anti-CAA protests in Mangalore. In this background, it was observed,.“The police have not registered even a single case on the complaints filed by the injured and relatives of the dead persons and thus the petitioners seek their release on bail.”