The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday, July 19 granted an interim stay on investigation and further associated proceedings in the FIR registered against BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya. The said FIR was filed by the Congress government in Karnataka over Malviya’s tweet against former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticizing his regular calls for foreign interference in India’s internal affairs.
BJP MP and lawyer Tejasvi Surya confirmed the development and stated that an interim stay had been issued in the matter. He said that the court found that no specific allegations were made against Malviya for invoking the IPC sections slapped against him.
“The said tweet was against Rahul Gandhi and the complaint, as well as the FIR, did not mention any allegations that attracted the provisions of IPC 153A, 505(2) holding that the FIR, complaint and the allegations contained therein do not make out any case,” Tejasvi Surya said.
#WATCH | BJP MP & lawyer Tejasvi Surya says, "The High Court of Karnataka, today granted an interim stay on investigation and all further proceedings in the FIR registered against Amit Malviya over an alleged tweet which, the FIR alleged, would promote enmity between classes of… pic.twitter.com/TrX3uTVlOo
— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2023
Surya also added that this order by the High Court was a slap on the face of the Congress government which according to him is trying to abuse the institutions of the government to meet its political agenda. “This order is an indication that the said FIR was filed with malice only to meet the political vendetta. The Congress is abusing the law and state institutions to meet its political agenda,” he added.
The FIR had been filed on June 28 under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120b (criminal conspiracy), 505(2) (promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 34 (criminal conduct in pursuit of a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code in Bengaluru’s High Grounds Police Station based on the complaint filed by Congress’s Ramesh Babu.
Malviya was booked for allegedly posting a caricature video on Congress’s Rahul Gandhi. “Rahul Gandhi is dangerous and playing an insidious game,” the tweet posted by the BJP IT Cell Chief on June 17 read.
Rahul Gandhi is dangerous and playing an insidious game… pic.twitter.com/wYuZijUFAu
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 17, 2023
The video indicated that Rahul Gandhi was utilizing the International media to break India and downgrade its economic growth ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The video stated that Gandhi is trying to divide India by spreading the ‘minority hate narrative’ within the country and is using international media platforms to defame Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the global stage.
The 2:28 minute reel looked like a compilation of various anti-Modi, anti-India and anti-Hindu statements delivered by Rahul Gandhi on the global stage. He had refused to call India a ‘country’ and had said that India is a union of states. He also mocked the Hindu culture on the global platform during the inauguration of the New Parliament Building in India.
The Congress had booked the BJP leader for ‘promoting enmity between groups’ and ‘promoting hatred between classes’. However, the Court has issued a stay on investigation and further associated proceedings in the FIR registered against the BJP leader.
