Supreme Court Stays Proceedings Against Karnataka Chief Minister Over 2022 Protest (image- twitter/siddaramaiah)

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the proceedings against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders over the 2022 protest against the previous BJP government. 

The Karnataka CM has approached the apex court after the Karnataka High Court rejected his plea to quash the case on February 6. The high court has also earlier directed Siddaramaiah to appear before the Special court on February 26. 

The protest march was conducted against the BJP government demanding the resignation of the former Rural department and Panchayat Raj minister KS Eshwarappa. The Congress leader along with cabinet ministers M B Patil and Ramalinga Reddy as well as senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala were all accused of participating in an “illegal” protest in 2022. 

During the hearing today before the top court, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Devadatt Kamat and Siddharth Luthra appeared for the political leaders, reports Bar and Bench.

The protest was held inside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru in April 2022, shortly after the civil works contractor Santhosh Patil was found dead in a lodge in Udupi, reports Hindustan Times. 

A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and P K Mishra issued notice to the Karnataka government and the complainant in the case. The top court has also stayed the high court order which had imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him as well as Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, state minister M B Patil and Ramalinga Reddy. 

According to the police, the case pertained to blocking roads and causing trouble to commuters.