HC rejects Siddaramaiah's plea to quash FIR, directs him to appear before court

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s plea to quash an FIR registered against him in 2022 and directed him to appear before a special court for MP/MLA on March six.

The HC also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him, as well as Congress general secretary and Karnataka in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, ministers M B Patil and Ramalinga Reddy.

The case was registered against them after they took out a march to lay siege to the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s residence here demanding the resignation of K S Eshwarappa who was the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister at the time.

The agitation was staged after a contractor Santosh Patil died by suicide accusing Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission on a public work in his village.

According to police, the case pertained to blocking roads and causing trouble to commuters.

The court maintained that public representatives should follow rules.