The Karnataka High Court has quashed a hate speech case against CNN News18 consulting editor Rahul Shivshankar over his post on X about the state government’s allocation of funds for the welfare of religious minorities, Bar and Bench reported.
“Criminal petition allowed. FIR stands quashed,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said, according to Bar and Bench, while passing the order on Shivshankar’s plea challenging the FIR against him. The judge had granted interim relief to Shivshankar in the case in September last year.
Shivshankar had approached the high court in February last year against the FIR that was filed after a complaint by one N Ambrish, a city municipal council member from Kolar in Karnataka.
The state had reportedly argued that Shivshankar had promoted enmity among religious groups by tweeting that funds meant for Hindu groups had been allocated for the development of Waqf properties, Haj Bhavan in Mangalore and the development of Christian places of worship.
Shivshankar’s counsel had reportedly argued that the anchor was merely doing his job by bringing budget-related facts to the public eye. He further said that Shivshankar was being targeted by the CID because of a TV show that he anchored on the MUDA scam.
While granting Shivshankar interim relief, Justice Nagaprasanna had reportedly observed that prima facie, no ingredient under Section 153A (promoting enmity) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was found in the post made by Shivshankar on the social media platform X. He added that Shivshankar was merely interpreting the budget allocation by the state.
Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
