Karnataka cabinet decides to withdraw 62 criminal cases despite DG&IGP, prosecution objection

BENGALURU: Depsite objections from the DG&IGP and the Law department, the Karnataka cabinet has decided to withdraw withdraw 62 criminal cases, which include rioting, stone-pelting, and attacks on the Chittapur police station.

On Thursday, Law minister H K Patil, who spoke to the media after the cabinet meeting, had said that the withdrawn cases relate only to farmers and Kannada activists. However, the DG&IGP, and the director of the Department of Prosecution had noted that the cases are not fit for withdrawal. The Law department too had said ‘there is no public interest in withdrawing these cases’.

Advocate Girish Bharadwaj, who had approached the high court over the cabinet decision to withdraw cases connected with the Hubballi riots cases and other serious criminal cases, termed it a “blatant misuse of the Cabinet’s power”. “The High Court of Karnataka has already clarified that no mandate can be issued to the Public Prosecutor to withdraw cases”, he posted on X.

Yesterday, Karnataka Law Minister @HKPatilINC stated that the withdrawn cases relate only to farmers and Kannada activists. The reality, however, is that this Congress government has misused the cabinet’s power to withdraw even serious cases of rioting, stone-pelting, and attacks… pic.twitter.com/yWaXF4Q2A3

— Girish Bharadwaj (@Girishvhp) September 5, 2025

“This misuse of power was condemned once earlier by the High Court, and yet the Government has chosen to repeat the very same illegality. Despite this judicial warning, the State Government has once again chosen to override institutional objections from law enforcement and prosecution. The pressing question remains: to please whom has the Government taken this arbitrary and unlawful step?” he asked.

“The Karnataka Government has once again committed a serious blunder by withdrawing 62 criminal cases through cabinet decision under Section 321 of the CrPC / Section 360 of the BNSS, despite clear opposition from both the Police Department and the Prosecution. Several of these cases pertain to rioting, unlawful assembly, and other grave offences”, he noted.

“Earlier, in my PIL (Girish Bharadwaj vs. State of Karnataka), the High Court of Karnataka had cautioned the State Government against the misuse of Section 321 CrPC, connected with the Hubballi riots cases and other serious criminal cases, and had even declared the cabinet’s withdrawal decision void ab initio (non est from inception)”, he noted.