Karnataka High Court to hear on May 15 Sonu Nigam’s plea against FIR

High Court of Karnataka adjourns Sonu Nigam's petition challenging FIR for objectionable statement at music concert.

The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday adjourned till Thursday, May 15, the hearing on the petition filed by singer Sonu Nigam, who has challenged the first information report (FIR) registered against him on a complaint that he allegedly made an objectionable statement during a music concert at an engineering college in the city when a few individuals in the audience demanded that he sing Kannada songs.

Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar, before whom Mr. Nigam’s petition was listed for hearing, adjourned the hearing till Thursday, May 15, after accepting the submission of the singer’s counsel on an objection raised by the court’s registry about a procedural defect in the petition documents.

The FIR was registered by the Avalahalli police on May 3 for the offences under Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 352(1) (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the BNS based on a complaint lodged by Dharma Raj Ananthaiah, a Kannada activist.

Meanwhile, the singer, through a video message on social media, has clarified that his statements were a response to certain unpleasant comments made repeatedly by some individuals in the audience who had demanded a Kannada song just after his first song in the concert. He sang several Kannada songs during the concert later.