Karnataka High Court Today (July 4) stopped police from arresting BJP MLC SN Ravikumar in a case where he allegedly made insulting remarks about Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh.
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BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court gave interim relief to BJP leader and MLC SN Ravikumar in a case where he is accused of making disrespectful and vulgar comments about Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh.
The court said that police should not arrest or take any strict steps against Ravikumar until July 8, when his petition to cancel the case will be heard.
However, the court also clearly said that Ravikumar must fully support and cooperate with the police investigation during this time.
The case against SN Ravikumar started after he reportedly made some offensive comments about Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh during a protest held near the Vidhan Soudha.
According to reports, Ravikumar said,
“The Chief Secretary works at night for the State government and all day for the Chief Minister.”
This statement led to strong reactions and criticism from many people, including members of the Karnataka IAS Officers’ Association.
Later, Ravikumar gave a public explanation, saying that he never meant anything vulgar. He claimed he only wanted to say that the Chief Secretary is so busy with work that it becomes hard for anyone to meet her. He said his words were taken out of context.
Senior Advocate Aruna Shyam, who appeared in court on behalf of Ravikumar, told the judge that the criminal case against his client was clearly politically motivated. He said the current ruling party was trying to twist Ravikumar’s words to make the issue bigger than it really is.
Shyam strongly argued that the matter was being blown out of proportion for political reasons and said,
“Now they are making hue and cry, making it a political issue.”
Ravikumar’s official petition, filed by Advocate Suyog Herele from Aruna Shyam Associates, also accused the ruling party of using this case to damage Ravikumar’s image.
The petition said,
“This is nothing but a politically motivated move in order to humiliate and tarnish the image of the petitioner in the society. The said incident took place on 30-06-2025 and a Complaint was made 2 days later by the General Secretary of the KPCC to the Respondent police as well as the Hon’ble speaker of the Legislative Council … Later as an afterthought the Respondent No.2 complainant has been setup by the political party in power and the impugned FIR in Crime No.66/2025 came to be registered … Respondent no.2 (complainant) is neither a victim nor an aggrieved person; only to please their political masters, this complaint has been lodged by projecting (Ravikumar’s comment) in a different context altogether.”
However, the government strongly opposed this plea. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) BA Belliyappa told the court that stopping the investigation would hurt the police force and encourage such remarks.
He pointed out that Ravikumar had made such statements in the past too and said:
“The entire lady IAS officers are up in arms.. He has a habit of making such statements… He utters these words under the statue of Gandhi. It was Gandhi’s dream that women can walk freely in the night (without fear) … Simultaneously he has moved anticipatory bail, he cannot be protected here … Morale of police will come down (if such cases are stayed) … If need arises, he has to be arrested … He has done this in Kalburgi, saying IAS officer is from Pakistan.. he has a habit.”
Despite the opposition, the High Court decided to give temporary protection to Ravikumar and stopped the police from taking any strict action until the next hearing.
The case will now come up again for hearing on Tuesday, July 8.
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