The High Court of Karnataka on Friday quashed two criminal cases filed against Lok Sabha MP and former BJP Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, over his comments on Waqf board. He was accused of promoting enmity between religious groups during a protest rally held to condemn the Karnataka government and the Waqf Board, accused them of illegally seizing properties belonging to farmers and temples.
The case originated from a speech Bommai delivered in 2024, where he criticized the state government’s handling of Waqf Board actions, particularly after the board issued notices to over 400 farmers in Vijayapura district, alleging encroachment on 14,000 acres of waqf land. Alleging that Waqf Board was claiming land of others, he had said, “if a stone is thrown in Savanur, wherever it falls, it is waqf land.”
His remarks, deemed inflammatory by some, led to two criminal complaints him, after which he was booked under Section 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between groups) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).
However, Justice SR Krishna Kumar today ruled in his favor, quashing both the cases against him. He court said that the allegations against Bommai were vague, bald, omnibus and laconic, and proceeding with the case will be abuse of process of law.
