Bengaluru, June 22 (UNI) The Karnataka High Court has provided temporary relief to BJP National President JP Nadda and BJP IT Cell head Amit Malaviya. This relief is in relation to an FIR filed over an allegedly offensive animated video posted by the BJP’s Karnataka Unit on X. The video reportedly accused the State Congress of Muslim appeasement.
Justice Krishna S Dixit stated that the investigation can proceed, but JP Nadda and Amit Malaviya are not required to be personally present during the investigation. The court has also notified the parties involved in the complaint.
Nadda and Malaviya noted that no members of the mentioned religious communities had filed any complaints, and no hatred or enmity had arisen from the video, which is necessary to establish a violation under Section 505(2) of the IPC.
They claimed they were implicated solely because of their national positions in the BJP and had no direct role in the video. They argued that just because they hold national roles, it does not mean they are responsible for every social media post made by the party in different states.
The petitioners pointed out that a similar FIR had already been filed by the Karnataka Police at Malleshwaram police station. They referenced the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of TT Anthony vs. State of Kerala, which states that there should not be two FIRs for the same incident.
They argued that if there was any violation of the model code of conduct, it should be managed by the concerned state unit, not the national leaders. They contended that it is practically impossible for national leaders to monitor every action of state units.
The petitioners requested the court dismiss the FIR filed at High Grounds Police Station and sought an interim stay on further investigation.
