The Karnataka High Court on Thursday asked BJP MLC N Ravi Kumar to offer a personal apology to Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Taranum for making a controversial statement suggesting she “may have come from Pakistan.”
According to Bar and Bench, Taranum, an IAS officer from the 2015 batch, was the subject of the remark made by Kumar during a Hindutva Party rally in Kalaburagi on May 24. The event was held to protest the alleged mistreatment of BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy by Congress workers in Chittapur.
At the rally, Kumar criticised the deputy commissioner’s conduct, claiming her office had become partial to the Congress party. “I do not know whether she comes from Pakistan or is an IAS officer here,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying. “Listening to your applause, I think she might have come from Pakistan.”
Justice Suraj Govindaraj, who presided over the matter, verbally instructed Kumar to apologise directly to Taranum and obtain her acceptance. “Make your apologies to the lady in question, make her accept the apology, place it on record, we will consider then,” the judge said.
The court adjourned the hearing on Kumar’s plea challenging the FIR filed against him to June 6, according to The Hindu. It also directed the state to submit the relevant video evidence from the rally.
Kumar has been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including those relating to threats against public servants, incitement to religious disharmony, criminal intimidation, and statements against national integration.
During the hearing, Kumar’s counsel informed the court that his client had already apologised and sought interim protection from arrest. The state government’s representative, however, assured the court that Kumar would not be taken into custody if he cooperated with the investigation.
Justice Govindaraj noted that public figures should draw lessons from recent controversies, referencing BJP leader Vijay Shah, who came under fire for remarks seen as targeting Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, an Indian Army officer.
The court also instructed Kumar’s legal team to file a formal affidavit recording his apology.