To arrest or not to arrest? Police in limbo over scribes as netas argue
- The Assembly passed a resolution to arrest Ravi Belagare , editor of 'Hi Bangalore' and Anil Raj, editor of 'Yelahanka Voice'.
- While CM Siddaramaiah has asked the police not to arrest the scribes, Speaker KB Koliwad is reportedly upset over the delay in the arrest.
- But in the absence of a FIR, the police are finding it difficult to proceed with the arrest, since that would make it illegal
FollowThe City police are in a dilemma whether to follow the Legislative Assembly Speaker or the Chief Minister with regard to the arrest of two journalists - Ravi Belagere and Anil Raj. While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has asked the police not to arrest the scribes, Speaker KB Koliwad is reportedly upset with the police over the delay in the arrest.
Now, it turns out that no FIR has been filed so far, so the arrest cannot proceed.
The Assembly passed a resolution to arrest Ravi Belagare, editor of 'Hi Bangalore' and Anil Raj, editor of 'Yelahanka Voice'. The resolution follows the recommendations of the House Privileges Committee which found their articles on Speaker and two legislators defamatory.
But in the absence of a FIR, the police are finding it difficult to proceed with the arrest of the journalists. Arresting anyone without the FIR would amount to illegal detention that could put the police in trouble, reports Deccan Chronicle. It may be recalled here that Kumaraswamy Layout police had gone to Dharwad, early this week, to arrest Ravi Belagere where he was admitted to a hospital. However, the police could not take him to custody as they neither had the warrant nor FIR in the journalist's name. Another journalist, Anil Raj has reportedly gone missing since the House passed the order.
In the absence of FIR, Director General and Inspector General of Police RK Dutta has sought advice from Advocate General Madhusudhan R Naik in proceeding further in the case. However, there has been no reply from Naik yet, reports Deccan Chronicle. "This is a first for Karnataka and it will take us some time to figure out the legal aspects," reports Deccan Chronicle, quoting a senior police officer.
Meanwhile, Speaker Koliwad has expressed his displeasure over the delay in carrying out with his orders. Koliwad has sought reasons for the delay from Vidhana Soudha Secretariat who in turn has written to Home Ministry, IG and DGP and also City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood to submit their reasons by June 28, 3 pm, reports Kannada Prabha.
