High court stays order withdrawing 52 criminal cases against Kannada groups, activists

2 min readBengaluruJul 2, 2026 02:32 PM IST

File photo of the Karnataka High Court.

The Karnataka High Court Thursday stayed a Government Order that directed public prosecutors to withdraw 52 criminal cases filed against pro-Kannada organisations and Dalit activists, among others.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K S Hemalekha gave the direction while hearing a petition filed by Advocate Girish Bharadwaj.

The bench passed the order in view of the submission made by the petitioner’s counsel that the impugned order dated May 27, 2026, is contrary to an earlier decision of the high court, wherein it had quashed a similar Government Order passed in 2024.

The bench orally told the state not to implement the new Government Order till the next date of hearing. “You cannot do it till you answer the question raised before the court and until we have decided the issue.” The court, thereafter, directed the state government to file its objections within two weeks.

Among the 52 cases that the state government directed to withdraw are seven cases relating to the 2022 communal violence at Ladle Mushtaq Dargah in Aland under Kalaburagi district.

The petitioner argued that the Government Order is in violation of Section 360 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhitha, as it is not the state government but the public prosecutor that plays a role in the withdrawal of cases.

Further, he claimed that such actions threaten the integrity of the judicial system and raise concerns about fairness and accountability in legal proceedings.

Story continues below this ad

The Congress-led state government had, on October 15, 2024, passed a similar order directing public prosecutors to withdraw 43 cases, which included those related to the 2022 Hubballi riots, during which a mob pelted stones at a police station demanding the handover of a person who had allegedly made derogatory social media posts about Islam.