In a scathing rebuke of police action, the Karnataka High Court on Friday pulled up the Whitefield Police over the arrest of an activist who celebrated the cancellation of comedian Kunal Kamra's show through a Facebook post.
Calling out the authorities the high court voiced concern over the station's pattern of "violating the law".
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According to news agency ANI, hearing the petition in Mohan Gowda vs State of Karnataka and another on Friday, Justice M Nagaprasanna sharply stated that the "Whitefield Police Station appears to have been violating the law time and again."
What happened - Sequence of events
The cancellation of show: The report added that, as per the oral order, the case lies in a representation made by an organisation called Hindu Rashtra Samanvaya Samithi to the Whitefield Police Station.
The representation noted that Kunal Kamra was planning to hold his comedy show at Uru, Whitefield.
{{/usCountry}}The representation noted that Kunal Kamra was planning to hold his comedy show at Uru, Whitefield.
{{/usCountry}}Following the representation, the show got cancelled.
Celebration via Facebook post: Following the cancellation, the petitioner made a post on the social media platform Facebook.
The petitioner in the post reportedly stated that the show is cancelled and it is a "victory for Hindu unity."
Police's suo motu action: According to the advocate appearing for the petitioner, the police registered a suo motu case.
What the court said
Following this, the high court highlighted, "The police constable of the Whitefield Police Station gets concerned about the imaginary disharmony overnight and alleges such disharmony to be because of the post of the petitioner calling it a victory for Hindu unity."
The Court further noted that a notice under Section 35(3) of the BNSS issued on August 5 and August 6 indicated that the petitioner should appear before the police in the next three days, but he was already taken into police custody.
"A notice indicating the later date of appearance appears to have been used to take the petitioner into custody 3 days prior to the fixed date itself. This has been the modus operandi of the policeman who mans the Whitefield Police Station," Justice Nagaprasanna observed.
The HC has sought explanation from the Deputy Commissioner of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police.
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Udupi at 2 am, offences registered
The petitioner was in Udupi at 2 am, when a police constable from Whitefield Police Station reportedly travelled there and took the petitioner into custody.
The petitioner was brought to Whitefield Police Station for offences under Sections 273 and 353 of the BNS, ANI reported.
(with inputs from ANI)