‘Pakistan Zindabad’ at BJP rally ‘highly unimaginable’: Karnataka HC quashes case

The utterance of “Pakistan Zindabad” at a rally organised by the BJP, which had landed a man in the dock on charges of attempting to create social unrest, has now brought him relief, with the Karnataka High Court quashing the criminal proceedings against him after accepting his plea that the slogan was an inadvertent slip of the tongue.

In its order dated October 28, Justice V Srishananda observed that it was “highly unimaginable” that participants at a demonstration organised by the BJP would raise the slogan “Pakistan Zindabad”, as the accused had maintained that he had intended to shout “Pakistan Murdabad” but had uttered the contrary in the heat of the moment.

The case arose from a demonstration organised by BJP supporters in Mandya on December 18, 2022, during which the accused allegedly raised the pro-Pakistan slogan. A complaint was, however, lodged only in 2024, after a video of the incident reportedly caused mental distress to the complainant, who subsequently sought police intervention.

Acting on the complaint, Mandya police registered a case under provisions of the Indian Penal Code dealing with public mischief and assertions prejudicial to national integration, while the accused approached the High Court seeking to have the proceedings quashed.

During the hearing, the prosecution contended that the slogan had been deliberately raised “in order to create unrest in the society”. The court, however, noted that the investigation had failed to establish that the incident had caused any social unrest, despite the allegation that it was intended to disturb public harmony.

Holding that the continuation of the criminal proceedings would serve no useful purpose, Justice Srishananda concluded that allowing the case to proceed would amount to an abuse of the process of law, and accordingly quashed the proceedings against the petitioner.