Karnataka High Court drops criminal case against Shivakumar in BJP post row

2 min readBengaluruJun 19, 2026 06:48 PM IST

File photo of the Karnataka High Court.

The Karnataka High Court Friday allowed a petition filed by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and quashed a case registered against him over a Facebook post allegedly targeting certain BJP leaders.

Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the petition and said, “Allowed and quashed.”

The Bengaluru police had registered a case against Shivakumar, who was then the Karnataka deputy chief minister and Congress state president.

The case was registered against Shivakumar and Congress social media cell head B R Naidu based on an order by Bengaluru Special Court for People’s Representatives, where Yogendra Hodaghatta, a former secretary of the BJP’s legal cell, lodged a complaint. It was alleged that the Congress had manipulated and misrepresented the Opposition party’s campaign materials.

The High Grounds police station in Bengaluru had registered the case under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 504 (intentional insult, giving provocation), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 464 (making of false document) of the Indian Penal Code.

In January 2024, the BJP had protested against the arrest of Srikanth Pujari, a right-wing activist, over an incident of arson and rioting that took place in Hubballi after the Babri Masjid demolition at Ayodhya in 1992.

BJP workers then demonstrated, holding placards reading “I am also kar sevak, arrest me too”. The Congress information technology cell allegedly morphed the writing on the placards to make it look like a confessional statement on scams and posted them on social media. The posts were also shared from Shivakumar’s social media handles.