K’taka HC fines CM Siddaramaiah Rs 10K for blocking traffic during 2022 protest
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders in connection with blocking the road during a protest, and also said that the act of “blocking the road because one is a representative of the people cannot be accepted”.
The bench headed by Justice Krishna S. Dixit set aside the petition of CM Siddaramaiah seeking quashing of trial proceedings in the Special Court. The bench also ordered CM Siddaramaiah to be present before the Special Court for People’s Representatives on March 6.
The court also asked the AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala to be present before the court on March 7, Minister for Transport Ramalinga Reddy on March 15, and Minister for Large and Medium M.B. Patil on March 11. All leaders have been fined Rs 10,000 each.
The fine has been imposed for dragging a police sub-inspector Zaheeda attached to High Grounds police station in Bengaluru into the case and making her a party.
The counsel for CM Siddaramaiah requested a stay on the order until the appeal was made. The bench refused to heed and maintained that if representatives of the people follow the law, the people would also follow them. If the protests are held on the streets, the people would suffer, it stated.
City life is torture, the protests further worsen the situation in cities and for the same reason the act of blocking roads can’t be acceptable, the bench said while rapping the Congress leaders.
The FIR was booked against CM Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders at the High Grounds police station on April 14, 2022. The Congress party had organised a protest over a suicide case of a contractor Santhosh Patil and demanded the resignation of then Minister K.S. Eshwarappa.
During the protest, traffic was thrown out of gear on the busy Race Course Road. The traffic had come to a halt for several kilometres causing severe inconvenience to the public. The police had lodged an FIR on charges of blocking roads causing traffic jams, affecting the law and order system. The CM and others had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the NBW issued by the special court and proceedings against them in the lower court.
