On February 19, the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy sought response from Karnataka government on a plea challenging the February 12 order of the Karnataka High Court granting bail to former Mayor of Bengaluru Sampath Raj and Corporator Abdul Raqueeb Zakir, in connection with the Bengaluru riots.

Senior Advocates Devadatt Kamat, R Basant and Advocate Rajesh Inamdar had appeared for the petitioner.

Bar & Bench reported that the court directed Raj and Zakir to reply within three weeks on the plea filed by Congress MLA, R Akhanda Srinivasmurthy through Advocate Amit Pai. A letter of urgency was also moved along with the petition stating that bail was granted to the principal accused in large scale communal violence orchestrated by him and his co-conspirators.

The letter stated that the clash in 2020 “resulted in damage to public property to the tune of crores, and also led to the burning down of the house of the petitioner (complainant)”. The Congress MLA Srinivasmurthy also claimed that the Mayor, who lost Assembly polls from the neighbouring CV Raman Nagar Assembly constituency, harboured ill-will due to political reasons. The accused created unrest and a law-and-order situation on the pretext of an alleged derogatory post by his nephew (Naveen).

According to Bar & Bench, the plea read, “In view of the role of Respondent – Accused in inciting a mob to attack, vandalise, commit dacoity and set fire to the house of the petitioner, and also destroy public property at a very large scale, including setting fire to 2 police stations, leading to a communal clash, it is submitted, it is in the interests of the society that bail ought not to have been granted by the Hon’ble High Court.”

The accused persons were booked for offences under the Indian Penal Code, The Karnataka Prevention of Destruction and Loss of Property Act, 1981, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. On August 11, 2020, huge groups of people engaged in rioting, setting ablaze houses of Pulakeshinagar Congress MLA Srinivasamurthy and his sister over an alleged inflammatory social media post against Islamic prophet Muhammad by his nephew.

The Bar & Bench report also suggested that the plea pointed out that Sampath Raj is accused of very serious offences, which carry punishment of life imprisonment. It also highlighted that he has failed to appear before the investigating officer when summoned, and was absconding until the High Court in November, 2020, directed the investigating officer to trace Raj and arrest him.

It was reported that around 60 police personnel were injured and three people were killed on the day of riots in August last year. After the ravaging clashes, nearly 52 FIRs had been filed and roughly 264 accused persons were arrested in connection with the same. 

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Campaign Against Hate Speech, a group of concerned activists, parents, lawyers and academics working to combat hate speech by sections of media and public personalities and on social media, has written to Karnataka State Minorities Commission (KSMC) highlighting instances where the reportage of the recent Bengaluru riots may have sparked further hate and even incited violence.

In their complaint letter the group says, “… the irresponsibility with which the media has covered this incident is unforgivable. They sensationalized the incident with playing on loop visuals of physical violence, burning vehicles, police retaliation whilst playing intense background music.” The letter further says, “…these programs carried headlines such as “Bangalore inflamed”, “They should be arrested and taught a lesson in their own language” (They refers to the Muslim community).”

The goes on to give examples of this reportage by showcasing screengrabs and reportage from TV 9 and Suvarna News. Many of these examples showcase a clear anti-Muslim bias in the reportage and even the manner in which some anchors conducted themselves on air. The letter then goes on to give examples of hate speech on social media platforms like Twitter.

The group calls upon the KSMC to discharge its duties in accordance with the following mandate as per Karnataka State Minorities Commission Act, 2000, Sec 9:

“(d) to conduct studies, research and analysis on the questions of avoidance of discriminations against minorities; f) to make recommendations for ensuring, maintaining and promoting communal harmony in the State; (g) to make periodical reports at prescribed intervals to the Government; (h) to study any other matter which in the opinion of the Commission is important from the point of view of the welfare and development of minorities and to make appropriate recommendation; (i) to consider the grievances of the minorities and to suggest appropriate solution from time to time;”

The Campaign states, “The media reportage in this case has been sensationalised, creating a narrative of us vs them, blaming the entire Muslim community for the violence, defaming Muslim dominated localities by airing unverified and provocative statements.” The Campaign wants the KSMC to issue notices to “TV9 channel, Suvarna channel and Hosa Digantha newspaper for their communally charged coverage which is in violation of the Rule 6 Programme and Advertising Code and Section 295 A, Section 298 and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 respectively.” It also wants KSMC to issue “directions to the police to initiate criminal action against social media users who were propagating hate including the registration of FIR under Section 153A, 153B, 295A, 295B, 298,505(2) and ensure their arrest.”

The entire complaint letter may be read here: 

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The post Bengaluru riots coverage: Kannada news media under the scanner appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Karnataka government is set to approach the High Court in its bid to recover damages caused during the recent Bengaluru riots incident. The government will ask the high court to appoint a ‘Claims Commissioner’ who will assess damages caused to private and public property caused during the August 11 episode of violence.

The Deccan Herald reported that in February this year, the High Court of Karnataka had directed the state government to appoint retired district judges as claims commissioners, in order to assess the damages in bandhs during the Mahadayi protests and the one that followed the arrest of Congress leader DK Shivakumar in 2019.

The violence on August 11 was allegedly caused by a provocative social media post about Prophet Mohammad’s family by a man identified as Naveen, nephew of a local MLA. The riots broke out in DG Halli and KG Halli areas in the eastern part of Bengaluru whereby the mob also vandalised a police station and the MLA’s residence. Karnataka police have rounded-up 145 people for violence, stone-throwing and assault on police personnel.

The Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa spoke about this decision to approach the high court in a tweet:

Our Govt has decided to assess the damages caused to public & private property in the violent incidents in KG Halli & DG Halli & recover the costs from the culprits. We will approach Hon’ble High Court for appointment of Claim Commissioner as per Hon’ble Supreme Court order (1/3)

— B.S. Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) August 17, 2020

The CM further said that stringent action is being taken against those involved in the violence and stringent provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) have been invoked. Further, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will investigate the matter and will invoke the Goonda Act (Karnataka’s version of UP’S Gangster Act) if the need arises during investigation.

A Special Investigation Team has already been formed to conduct a detailed investigation in the matter and a team of three special prosecutors will be appointed for speedy trial of the cases. SIT will consider invoking Goonda Act if warranted. (3/3)

— B.S. Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) August 17, 2020

The Chief Minister’s Office confirmed this decision and stated that it was taken during a meeting attended by Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar, Director General of Police Praveen Sood, Advocate General Prabhuling Navadagi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajanish Goel, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant and other senior police officials.

On August 12, Karnataka Minister CT Ravi had said that they would follow the Uttar Pradesh model of recovering damages from people responsible for it. Albeit, UP had taken the ordinance route, Karnataka is yet to do that.

Karnataka’s Home Minister Bommai briefed the press after the meeting and said that the police were investigating whether the rioters had any association with any extremist or terrorist organizations.

Hindustan Times reported that the police have detained till date nearly 370 people for the Bengaluru riots. Apart from examining CCTV footage from several places, the police are also examining call records. Till now, DJ Halli police have registered 49 FIRs against the numerous accused while KG Halli police have registered 19 FIRs.

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