Siddaramaiah, HDK booked for sedition, defamation

The Bengaluru City police have booked former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy, senior leaders of the Congress and the JD(S), and a few IPS officers on charges of sedition, defamation and under 23 other Sections of IPC for protesting against the income tax raids during Lok Sabha elections between March 27 and 28, this year.

The Commercial Street police filed an FIR following a complaint filed by an activist A Mallikarjun, a native of Gubbi taluk in Tumakuru. The activist had filed a private complaint before the 82nd City Civil and Sessions court.

The complainant has alleged that then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy had leaked the information to the media about I-T raids on the premises of the JD(S) and the Congress leaders even before the taxmen conducted the raids. Kumaraswamy, joined by his deputy Parameshwara, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, ministers in the coalition government, MPs and the legislators of then ruling parties staged a protest in front of the I-T office on Queen’s Road. This is a clear violation of the model code of the conduct, the complainant stated.

The agitators had alleged that the I-T officials were behaving like the BJP agents. The then city police commissioner T Suneel Kumar and the DCPs did not initiate action against the agitators. The protest had put the public and the motorists to hardships, he complained seeking action against the suspects.