Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Jan 11: The state high court has passed an order, quashing a first information report (FIR) registered against Dakshina Kannada MP and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel, accusing him of obstructing the police from discharging their duties. This complaint had been registered by the police personnel of the city (east) police station at Kadri here.
In a criminal appeal seeking to dismiss hearing of the suit by the second additional civil and JMFC court relating to the said FIR had been filed by Nalin in the high court. A single judge bench of the high court presided over by Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav, which upheld the petition, passed an order to quash the said FIR and also the hearing of the same by the JMFC court.
Nalin Kumar Kateel
Screengrab from the viral video
Advocate Pavan Chandra Shetty, who appeared on behalf of Nalin Kumar Kateel, argued that there is nothing on record to prove the allegations made against the petitioner. He pointed out that as per Article 105 of the Indian Constitution, the people's representatives (MPs) have the right to interfere if they have reasons to believe that the administrative machinery of the government or officials are indulging in wrong things. He stressed that the MP was only discharging his duties and that his aim was not to obstruct the police personnel from discharging duties.
On September 7, 2017, the BJP Yuva Morcha had organized a bike rally from Bengaluru to Mangaluru, on the issue of communal riots taking place in the state. The BJP activists who were prepared to take out a procession to the office of Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner at Mangaluru at 1 pm that day were arrested by the police inspector of Mangaluru (east) station.
In this backdrop, Kateel had visited the said police station at 3 pm on the same day and asked the inspector to show him the diary relating to the arrest of BJP workers. The then police inspector of the station, Maruti G Nayak, had complained to the station house officer, alleging that Kateel had obstructed him from discharging his duties. On the basis of the complaint, the station house officer had registered the said FIR.
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