BENGALURU: In a relief to former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, the Karnataka High Court has quashed three cases registered against him by the electoral officer with Chikkaballapura town police during Lok Sabha elections held in March 2014.
While hearing criminal petitions filed by JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy, Justice R Devdas quashed the proceedings pending before the Principal Civil Judge and JMFC at Chikkaballapur, in pursuant to the FIRs registered by the electoral officer. Based on the complaint filed by S S Abid, Team Leader, Office of the Deputy Director, Chikkaballapur district, the three cases were registered against Kumaraswamy under Section 188 and 341 of IPC.
According to the order dated December 2, 2019, the counsel of Kumaraswamy contended that the complaint will clearly show that there is no specific allegation or personal allegation against the petitioner that he was guilty of restraining any person wrongfully. The complaint was filed against the workers of the political party for causing inconvenience to the general public by blocking the road. The allegation not being specific to the petitioner and hence the FIRs are required to be quashed, he argued.
The court said that it has consistently held that unless and until there is a private complaint under Section 200 made to the Magistrate, the offence punishable under Section 172 and 188, both inclusion of IPC, cannot be taken cognizance of. As Section 341 is concerned, this court accepts the contention of the counsel that the complaint does not make out a case as against the petitioner.