Police Maha Sangha chief Shashidhar gets bail

The High Court on Thursday granted bail to V Shashidhar, president of the Akhila Karnataka Police Maha Sangha.

He was arrested on the midnight of June 2 for instigating the police to go on “mass leave”. He is facing charges of sedition and instigating police personnel to skip work.
Justice Anand Byrareddy also granted bail to Basavaraju Korawar and Gurupadayya on condition that they will not incite or call for any agitation by police personnel.

Other conditions include not calling for any collective action by the police force to execute any action and not tamper with evidence or prevail upon the prosecution witnesses.

They were also asked to attend the court hearing and co-operate with the investigation and not leave the court jurisdiction without permission. The judge ordered them to pay a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and surety of the same amount.

The judge in the order said, “The apprehension expressed by the state - of a state of anarchy and disorder on account of the petitioners’ campaign, is clearly paranoid (sic).”
 
The judge said that Shashishar and his aides are completely aware that they will be dealt with an 'iron hand', if any policeman steps out of line on account of goading and incitement by him.

Shashidhar, by virtue of him being the member of the police force, seeks to tell the world the plight of the members of the lower rungs of the police.

In another petition filed by Shashidhar’s wife Poornima, the petitioner sought directions to handover the investigation into the arrest of her husband to the CBI and said that if the Central Crime Branch (CCB) files the chargesheet in the matter, their petition would become infructuous.

Justice AS Bopanna granted two weeks’ time to the government and said that any further action in the matter is subject to the result of the writ petition.
DH News Service