K’taka govt suspends police officer for filing ‘false case’ against 40 lawyers

Bengaluru: Karnataka government has suspended the Police Sub-Inspector (SI) Syed Tanveer Hussain who allegedly had filed a “false” FIR against 40 lawyers in connection with a social media post by advocate Chand Pasha against the Varanasi judge who had passed the judgement in Gyanvapi mosque case.

“Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka and senior BJP leaders have alleged that the police officer has falsely implicated lawyers by filing FIR against them,” Karnataka Minister for Home G. Parameshwara said in the Assembly on Wednesday.

He said that the lawyers have also demanded that the police officer should be suspended and had also planned to stage a protest in Bengaluru today.

“The police officer has been suspended. The investigation will be led by Dy SP Channapatna,” he said.

He said that the government will initiate stringent action against the advocate Chand Pasha who is responsible for the situation.

“It is found that he is a habitual offender and involved in such acts before,” he said.

Earlier, the Karnataka government had refused to suspend the police officer and opposition BJP had warned that the government will be held responsible for disturbing law and order in the state.

Opposition leader R. Ashoka, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, among others, demanded that thousands of advocates were protesting, demanding suspension of the police officer.

A week-long protest had been called demanding the suspension of police officer for filing an FIR against 40 lawyers in connection with a defamatory post by an advocate and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) worker Chand Pasha against a Varanasi judge, who gave the verdict in the Gyanvapi mosque case.

The incident had taken a communal turn and the police had registered an FIR against the lawyers on charges of assaulting a group of people questioning action against advocate Chand Pasha for the derogatory post.

The Bar Association of New Delhi and 193 Bar Associations in Karnataka have extended their support to the agitation.

Police said that the advocate Chand Pasha referred to the judge as an RSS “bootlicker” who delivered the verdict one day before his retirement and addressed him with a “foul expletive”.

After a case was filed against the advocate, the advocate had removed the post.