The Karnataka High Court has halted the summons issued to activist Chakravarti Sulibele, who was involved in a protest against the killing of BJP member Praveen Nettaru. Justice M Nagaprasanna, presiding over the bench, granted a temporary stay order after considering a petition that sought to cancel the private complaint filed against Sulibele in the VI ACMM court by the inspector of S J Park police station, along with the issued summons.
During the hearing, senior advocate Arun Shyam argued that the State Government had restricted protests to Freedom Park, prohibiting them from taking place elsewhere in the city. The private complaint accused Sulibele of violating this order by protesting in front of the Town Hall without prior permission, causing disruption to public peace and law and order.
Arun Shyam contended that, according to the law, the complaint should have been filed by the officer who issued the order or a superior officer. However, in this case, the S J Park Station Inspector filed a private complaint, and the Magistrate court issued the summons. Consequently, Shyam sought the dismissal of the case against Sulibele.
Taking into account the arguments presented, the panel of judges decided to issue a temporary halt to the summons that had been served to Sulibele. Subsequently, they postponed the hearing.
On June 28, 2022, activists from various pro-Hindu organizations, including the ‘Hindu Hitraraksha Samiti,’ staged a protest in front of the Town Hall on J C Road from 3 pm to 6.30 pm to denounce the killing of Nettaru. The complaint named a total of 11 individuals, including MLA Ravi Subramanya, former mayor Katte Satyanarayana, Umesh Shetty, and Sulibele, alleging that the protesters chanted slogans demanding the banning of Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), as well as the execution of Nettaru’s killers through “police encounters.”
