Karnataka High Court orders police protection for Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Mahesh Joshi

The threats include verbal intimidation, written warnings and phone calls indicating dire consequences if he continues his activities as President of the Sahitya Parishat.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has passed an order directing the state government to provide police protection to Mahesh Joshi, President of Kannada Sahitya Parishat.

Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order in the petition filed by Joshi.

The petitioner had claimed that after the Mandya Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in December 2024 and January 2025, he started receiving serious threats to his life from various unknown individuals and groups.

The threats include verbal intimidation, written warnings and phone calls indicating dire consequences if he continues his activities as President of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat.

According to the petitioner, the authorities had not considered his numerous representations to the Home Secretary and the personal secretary of District-in-charge minister of Mandya seeking adequate police protection.

The court called for a threat assessment/analysis report. “The report has several instances of threat perception projecting in real time, but only at particular places in the State of Karnataka. In the light of the threat perception being at several places, in the State of Karnataka, I deem it appropriate to direct the respondent - State to accord such police protection to the petitioner, in terms of the order passed earlier and also provide the services of a personal security/gunman, as and when sought for, when the petitioner is wanting to travel in the State/particularly, where the threat to the petitioner is in real time. Whenever the petitioner travels, the jurisdictional police, therein shall accord such police protection,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said.