Politics above law: Karnataka’s shameful tradition of withdrawing criminal cases

 The Karnataka government’s latest decision to withdraw 60 criminal cases marks yet another disturbing chapter in the state’s long history of subordinating law to politics. What makes this move indefensible is not merely the number of cases, but the very nature of the offences erased. These are not minor cases filed against harmless protestors. Among them are 11 tied to violent demonstrations in Ramanagara in 2019, after Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar’s arrest, where mobs pelted stones and injured policemen. Other cases relate to clashes in Shivamogga in 2023 over internal SC reservation, where violence erupted near former CM B. S. Yediyurappa’s residence. Still others concern Ganesh Chaturthi procession clashes, communal fights in Ranebennur, and a 2019 Chittapur stone-pelting case where 33 accused attacked police after a cattle transport vehicle was seized.

These are serious crimes involving rioting, destruction of public property, and assault on police officials. To dismiss them as “political in nature” is an insult both to the law and to citizens who expect accountability. The government’s justification collapses in the face of such facts. Civil society is right to ask: when criminals who attack police stations or destroy government property are rewarded with political protection, what deterrent remains?

The argument that certain prosecutions are politically motivated is not without merit. In rare cases—farmers’ agitations, workers’ strikes, peaceful protests—there may be a humanitarian case for withdrawal. But this logic cannot and should not extend to violent offences. Here, what we witness is not compassion but expediency, a cynical use of executive power to safeguard party cadres and influential leaders.

The tragedy is that this is not the first time. Congress, BJP, and JD(S) governments alike have misused their authority to wipe away politically inconvenient cases. Each time, the Karnataka High Court has stood as a bulwark against such misuse. In May this year, the Court struck down an earlier attempt by this very government to withdraw 43 cases, including those linked to the 2022 Hubballi riots, where mobs stormed a police station and grievously injured officers. The division bench categorically ruled that such withdrawals violated Section 321 of the CrPC, which requires the public prosecutor—not the cabinet—to independently assess withdrawal and seek court approval. The Court warned that the government’s approach “discounts the rule of law and works against public interest.”

Yet, despite repeated judicial rebukes, successive governments continue to act with impunity. The consequences are corrosive. Police morale plummets when their attackers go unpunished. Citizens lose faith when justice is meted out selectively—unforgiving to the weak, indulgent to the well-connected. Ultimately, democratic governance itself is undermined when laws are treated as mere inconveniences, to be bent for partisan advantage.

By allowing political considerations to override public safety and judicial authority, Karnataka’s ruling class has once again sent a chilling message: in this state, power shields wrongdoers more effectively than law punishes them. Unless courts assert themselves more forcefully—and civil society sustains pressure—this cycle of impunity will repeat, and with each repetition, the rule of law in Karnataka will be further hollowed out.