The Karnataka High Court on Monday issued an interim stay on all further police investigation into six farmers accused of assaulting survey officials during a land acquisition drive for the proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township project near Bidadi.
Justice M Nagaprasanna granted the relief while hearing a petition filed by the farmers seeking to quash a First Information Report registered against them. The court observed that the complaint had been lodged by a private driver who drove the survey team rather than any of the officials allegedly attacked, rendering the registration of the case suspicious.
Legal Arguments And Allegations
Senior Advocate D R Ravishankar, representing the petitioners, told the court that the farmers were peacefully demonstrating with brooms to protect their ancestral property from illegal survey work. He argued that the state government had previously assured that land acquisition would proceed only with farmer consent and in accordance with established legal procedures.
The defense further submitted that the authorities had escalated a minor altercation involving a distressed crowd into severe criminal charges. The police had registered the case based on a complaint by driver Mohammed Sameer under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 109(1) for attempt to murder and 74 for assault or criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty.
Protest At Mandalahalli Village
The charges stem from a July 13 demonstration in Mandalahalli village, located in the Bengaluru South district. Members of a Joint Measurement Committee entered the village using alternative routes after residents blocked the main access road to block the survey work.
The arrival of the survey team sparked confrontations with local residents, particularly women who gathered with brooms. Video footage of the incident showed protesters confronting officials, chasing one representative away, and asserting that government agencies had ignored their formal objections to the acquisition plan.
Background Of Bidadi Township Project
The survey was part of the state government’s plan to acquire approximately 7,400 acres across nine villages for the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township, a key development initiative championed by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. The project has faced sustained resistance from local landholders since its preliminary acquisition notification was published in March.
