Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: HC grants regular bail to actors Darshan, Pavithra Gowda and five others, and more

Karnataka High Court on December 13, 2024, granted regular bail to seven accused persons, including actors Darshan and Pavithra Gowda in the Renukaswamy kidnap, torture and murder case. Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty passed the order while allowing the separate petitions filed by Darshan, Pavithra, Nagaraju R, Anu Kumar alias Anu, Lakshman M, Jagadeesh alias Jagga, and Pradoosh S. Rao.

The petitioner accused persons, who were among the 15 accused persons against whom chargesheet has been filed in the case, were denied bail by the trial court due to which they had knocked the doors of the High Court. The High Court had on October 30 had granted interim bail to Darshan to undergo surgery for his back pain.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the Lingayat Panchamasali community should approach the Permanent Backward Classes Commission with their demand for inclusion under 2A category of the backward classes. He clarified that during the BJP regime, the chairman of Backward Classes Commission Jayaprakash Hegde said that there should be no change in composition of the 2A and 2B categories.

The CM also mentioned the affidavit in the Supreme Court over a petition filed by Gulam Rasool against abolition of 4% reservation of Muslims under 2B category and giving it to Lingayats and Vokkaligas. In the affidavit, the BJP government said that it would not implement the order, he said.

The Karnataka High Court has set aside an FIR filed against BJP Yuva Morcha president and Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya. The FIR, registered by the Haveri police under 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), was based on a social media post Mr. Surya made concerning a farmer’s suicide, which he linked to alleged Waqf Board land claims.

The petition, filed by Mr. Surya, argued that the FIR was baseless and politically motivated. Following detailed hearings, Justice M. Nagaprasanna’s bench quashed the case after earlier granting an interim stay on proceedings.

As part of the Minimum Work Programme (MWP), 412 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations have been established in Karnataka. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas aims to establish an additional 1,414 CNG stations in the State by 2030.