Bengaluru, Oct 2 (IANS) : A Karnataka BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh on Friday, questioning how the police department had allowed Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues to stage a protest on the premises of the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office.
The delegation demanded that the police register FIRs against the Chief Minister and the ministers over the protest and initiate proceedings for their arrest.
The delegation was led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka, LoP in the Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, former Deputy Chief Minister and MLA C.N. Ashwath Narayan, MP P.C. Mohan, MLC C.T. Ravi, Venkatesh Dodderi, Harish S. and other prominent leaders.
The memorandum was titled: “Objection to allowing the Chief Minister and ministers to stage a protest on the premises of the State Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office in violation of the Supreme Court order.”
Ashoka said, “I am registering my serious objection to the incident in which Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues, along with party leaders, staged a protest at the CEO’s office. This is a serious development.”
He said the Supreme Court, in a PIL case, had prohibited protests and dharnas at places other than the designated Freedom Park premises in Bengaluru, as per the order of the bench headed by the Chief Justice.
“Chief Minister Shivakumar and his colleagues have shown disregard for the court order. Staging a protest on the premises of the CEO’s office without permission is a clear violation of the Supreme Court’s order,” he said.
Ashoka said the Election Commission was neither under any political party nor the government and was an independent constitutional institution.
“Allowing a politically motivated protest on its premises raises important questions about the authority of the Election Commission and public trust,” he said.
Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said, “This is a clear case of violation of the Supreme Court directive and amounts to contempt of court. Against this backdrop, we demand that FIRs be registered against the Chief Minister and ministers and that they be arrested.”
He also questioned who had given permission for the protest to be held on the premises of the State Election Commission and whether the permission had been granted in writing.
“If written permission was granted, the records should be made public. Will the police department permit opposition parties or members of the public to stage similar protests on the premises of the Election Commission?” he asked.
The BJP also demanded that reports on the action taken by the police and Election Commission officials during the protest be made public. It sought the release of CCTV footage, details of police security arrangements, the permission letter and other related documents.
The BJP, in its memorandum, sought immediate action and demanded that a detailed action-taken report be made available.
