New Delhi,
The Supreme Court has given great relief to BJP MP Tejashwi Surya. The court quashed the Karnataka government’s petition in the farmer suicide case. Earlier, the Karnataka High Court had dismissed the Karnataka government’s petition seeking to register an FIR against MP Surya. Surya was accused of spreading fake news in the case of suicide of a farmer in Haweri district. A bench of Chief Justice BR Gawai and K Vinod Chandran said what is this? Do not politicize the matter. Fight your fight in front of voters. The bench rejected the appeal of the state government and warned against the politicization of legal proceedings.
Surya did this post
On November 8, 2024, Tejashwi Surya claimed in a post on his social media platform X that Rudrappa Balikai, a farmer from Haweri district, committed suicide after the Waqf Board occupied his land. He accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister BJD Jamir Ahmed Khan of having a devastating impact in Karnataka.
The truth came out later
Surya also shared a link to the news of a local portal in her post. However, police investigation revealed that the farmer committed suicide due to increasing debt burden. After this, an FIR was filed against him under Section 353 (2) of the Code of Justice of India (BNS).
Court gave relief
Surya challenged the FIR and demanded to dismiss it. In December 2024, Justice M Nagprasanna of the Karnataka High Court canceled the FIR on Thursday, while delivering the verdict on his petition. After this, the Karnataka government moved the Supreme Court.
Surya’s lawyer said this
Senior advocate Aruna Shyam, appearing for Surya, told the court that the father of the deceased farmer had raised complaints related to the land dispute involving the Karnataka Waqf Board, after which the MP posted this on the social media platform ‘X’. However, Haveri Superintendent of Police Anshu Kumar later clarified that farmer Rudrappa committed suicide due to debt. After this explanation, Surya deleted the post.
