BJP MP Tejasvi Surya welcomes SC verdict, slams Karnataka govt over ‘fake case’ against him

Bengaluru: BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s order dismissing the Karnataka government’s plea against a High Court order that quashed a criminal case against him, saying “the judgment should serve as a lesson”.

Surya had been accused of disseminating “fake news” regarding a farmer’s suicide in the state’s Haveri district.

“The Karnataka government filed an FIR against me—at the behest of a minister—accusing me of spreading fake news. The High Court quashed it with a detailed order. But their addiction to vendetta politics made them approach the Supreme Court. Today, not only did the SC dismiss their plea, it imposed costs and cautioned them against politicising institutions,” he claimed in a post on ‘X’.

Surya alleged that the Congress has long run a “calculated misinformation” campaign against him, even “misusing the police and judiciary to settle political scores.”

“This judgment should serve as a lesson. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he added.

The SC bench dismissed the appeal of the state government and cautioned it against the politicisation of legal proceedings.

“What is this? Don’t politicise the matter. Fight your battles before the electorate,” a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said.

The case stemmed from a post shared by Surya on November 7, 2024, in which he cited a report from Kannada news portals claiming that a “farmer had died by suicide after discovering that his land had been taken over by the Waqf Board.”