'Fight your battles before electorate': SC rejects Karnataka govt's plea for FIR against Tejasvi Surya

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a plea by the Karnataka government against the High Court's order quashing a criminal case lodged against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in a case related to alleged spreading of fake news.

A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran dismissed the special leave petition filed by state government with a cost.

As soon as the matter was taken up, the bench told the state counsel, "Don't politicise the matter, fight your battles before the electorate."

Bengaluru South MP, Surya had shared an article on November 7, 2024, claiming that a farmer had died by suicide after discovering that his land had been taken over by the Waqf Board.

The post on X was later deleted after it was revealed by the police that the claims were unfounded. The police had registered a suo-motu case under Section 353(2) of the Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) for spreading fake news.

A single bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna quashed the FIR, allowing the criminal proceedings would amount to abuse of the process of law when there is nothing to investigate.

"The tweet is posted; tweet is clarified; and tweet is deleted. Therefore, it is ununderstandable as to how the ingredients of Section 353(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) are met in the case at hand," the High Court had said.

The BJP leader had deleted his after the Haveri Superintendent of Police clarified that the suicide as per father of the deceased was due to the loss of crop and the Rs 7 lakh loan taken by him.