In a severe embarrassment for the Karnataka Congress government, the Supreme Court has dismissed the state’s petition seeking a retrial against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya for an allegedly false social media post about a farmer’s suicide and imposed a hefty cost of Rs 25 lakh on the state exchequer for wasting judicial time.
The apex court, led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinodchandran, came down heavily on the government, remarking that it was trying to politicise the issue and that such disputes should be settled in the people’s court the ballot box not by burdening the judiciary with vindictive cases. “Don’t politicise the matter. Keep this dispute of yours before the voters,” the bench told the government bluntly, according to Live Law.
This comes as a stinging indictment of the Congress regime’s misuse of police machinery for political ends — an issue the opposition BJP has repeatedly flagged ever since the FIR against Tejasvi Surya was registered in November 2024.
The case that turned into a political weapon
On November 7, 2024, Tejasvi Surya had tweeted a report by a Kannada news portal that a farmer, Rudrappa Channappa Balikai from Haveri, had taken his own life because the Waqf Board allegedly seized his land. However, when the Haveri Superintendent of Police clarified that the suicide had no connection to the Waqf Board and was due to crop loss and mounting debt, the MP deleted his tweet.
Yet the state police — instead of treating it as an error corrected by Surya — slapped a suo motu FIR under Section 353(2) of the Indian Penal Code, accusing him of deliberately spreading misinformation to provoke communal discord.
The Karnataka High Court had earlier quashed the FIR, finding no basis to treat it as hate speech or incitement. However, the state government, undeterred, dragged the case to the Supreme Court, only to face a stinging rebuke and a massive fine.
Tejasvi Surya: Congress abusing police for vendetta
Reacting to the verdict, Tejasvi Surya wasted no time in hitting out at the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government. In a strongly worded statement on X, he said, “Congress is waging a disinformation campaign against me. They are misusing the police and judiciary for political vendetta. The Supreme Court’s decision is a lesson for them. Karnataka’s people will not tolerate such misuse of power.”
He added, “Instead of focusing on governance, the Congress is busy hunting down political rivals through false cases. They will have to answer to the people for wasting public money on their political revenge drama.”
BJP leaders have condemned the state’s brazen misuse of administrative machinery for a petty political fight. “Who will pay this Rs 25 lakh? Not the ministers or bureaucrats — the common taxpayer will foot the bill for the government’s vendetta politics,” said legal expert Raghavendra Prasad.
Senior BJP leaders have slammed the government for wasting the judiciary’s time while the state grapples with real issues, including farmer distress, unemployment, and civic mismanagement. “While Tejasvi Surya was trying to highlight farmer problems, the government tried to paint him as a criminal for political mileage. Now they stand exposed,” said a senior BJP leader.
The Supreme Court’s order has sparked fresh demands that the Congress government must take responsibility for the fine imposed and recover it from the officials and ministers who pushed this ill-conceived appeal.
The verdict is also likely to strengthen the BJP’s claim that the Congress is intolerant of dissent and uses the police force as its personal hit squad. For many, the episode is yet another example of how freedom of expression and legitimate political debate are stifled when misused laws become a weapon in the hands of the ruling party.
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