Bengaluru
The Karnataka Cabinet has decided to drop 60 criminal cases filed during earlier political and public agitations, covering incidents from demonstrations over D.K. Shivakumar’s arrest to protests about reservations, Cauvery water release, and Ganesh Chaturthi processions.
Approved by the Cabinet, the move clears cases registered during the previous BJP regime against political workers, activists, and members of the public.
Of these, 11 cases relate to protests in September 2019 following Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. Filed at Kanakapura, Sathanur, and Kodihalli police stations in the then Ramanagara (now Bengaluru South) district, they named Congress and JD(S) workers under IPC sections and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Protesters were accused of staging rallies without permission, violating prohibitory orders, and pelting stones at Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSTC) buses.
The Cabinet acted on the matter following representations from Home Minister G. Parameshwara and Chief Whip Ashok Pattan. It also cleared a 2012 case against supporters of former Congress MP D.K. Suresh, brother of D.K. Shivakumar, who had been booked for obstructing officials after being denied permission to pay floral tributes to the statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Kempegowda. Five of Suresh’s aides were named in the FIR.
Four other cases dropped involved 2023 protests in Shikaripura, Shivamogga district, against the BJP government’s internal reservation policy for Scheduled Castes. Protesters allegedly threw stones and clashed with police while attempting to lay siege to former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s residence.
Several matters recommended earlier by former home minister Araga Jnanendra were also scrapped, including cases from Ganesh Chaturthi processions in Haveri district (2018 and 2019), a ram fight, and a group clash in Kanakapura.
In Kalaburagi district’s Chittapur, a 2019 case against 33 people for stone-pelting during a dispute over cattle transport was withdrawn following a petition from IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge. Cases connected to agitations over the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and protests during the Mahadayi movement were similarly closed.