Urigowda, Nanjegowda remark: HC stays probe against Ashwath

The high court on Tuesday stayed for four weeks further investigation in the FIR registered against former minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan over his alleged statement in Mandya to ‘finish off Siddaramaiah like Urigowda and Nanjegowda finished off Tipu’.

The FIR was registered on May 24, for offences under IPC sections 153 and 506.

The complaint was filed by KPCC spokesperson M Lakshmana, alleging that Ashwath Narayan’s statement was provocative.

The complainant apprehended trouble for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, like it happened in August 2022, when the latter visited Kodagu to assess rain damage.

In the petition, Ashwath Narayan claimed that the reference to Urigowda and Nanjegowda was used as a metaphor to the political fight and was meant to be an electoral victory, without any intention of causing any injury to Siddaramaiah.

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Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocates Prabhuling K Navadgi and Lakshmi Iyengar said that the statement was made on February 15, 2023, at a rally.

A complaint was filed with the Devaraja police station in Mysuru on February 17, which was treated as a non-cognizable report (NCR).

Navadgi submitted that following the change of government, another complaint was filed and an FIR was registered for the same offence.

It was argued that the complaint is bereft of any material and no video or audio recording or any newspaper report was submitted along with the complaint.

He said that the former minister had also clarified about the speech in the Assembly.

Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the soul of IPC section 153 is that any statement made by any person should be so provocative that it should result in rioting or even if it does not result in any rioting, it should be capable of resulting in rioting.

“No such incident is narrated as the statement was made on February 15, 2023 and we are three months away. Therefore, the dominant ingredient of Section 153 is prima facie not met. In the light of offence not meeting the prima facie, the ingredient of Section 153, and the improbability of such an offence being met on the ingredients noted in the complaint, permitting further proceedings/investigation against the petitioner would run foul of the judgement of the Apex Court in the case of State of Haryana v/s Bhajan Lal,” the court said.