A Bengaluru court has granted conditional bail to the three men who were arrested for allegedly shouting pro-Pakistan slogans in the Karnataka Assembly on February 27, after Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain was elected to the Rajya Sabha, Bar and Bench reported.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate V Vijith granted the bail application moved by the accused persons. They are Mohammad Nashipudi, who hails from Haveri district, Munawwar Ahmed from Bengaluru and Mohammad Iltaz from Delhi.
The court asked them to furnish a bond of ₹1 lakh and two sureties each to secure their release. It also prohibited them from leaving the country and directed them to attend the court proceedings regularly.
On March 4, the Bengaluru Police had arrested the three men based on a forensic report, circumstantial evidence and statements of the witnesses gathered at the event.
In the court, the counsel for the accused persons argued that the police had failed to give any notice to them under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure prior to their arrest.
Following this, the footage showing the alleged pro-Pakistan sloganeering was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for an audio examination. The judge granted the accused persons bail after the laboratory’s analysis presented evidence that was prima facie in their favour.
On February 27, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had shared a video of the purported pro-Pakistan sloganeering in the Karnataka Assembly.
“Rahul’s [Gandhi] Congress has elected as MP Rajya Sabha – sitting MP Nasser Hussein who is ‘political secretary’ of [party chief] Mallikarjun Kharge,” Chandrashekar had said in a post on X after the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27. “Listen to what the supporters of this Congress MP are shouting inside the Vidhan Soudha building after his election - ‘Pakistan Zindabad’”.
However, in another video shared on social media by Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, people in the House can be heard shouting in support of Hussain. The slogans “Nasir Hussain Zindabad”, “Nasir Sahab Zindabad” and “Congress Party Zindabad” can be heard.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on February 28 said that “strict action” would be taken if the Forensic Science Laboratory report proved that pro-Pakistan slogans were indeed shouted in the Assembly.
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