The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday released BV Seetaram of Karavali Ale paper.
A division bench headed by Justice SR Bannurmath and Justice Venugopala Gowda ordered the police to release the accused forthwith and said the court will the hear the case again on Friday.
The court added that prima facie, it is proved that police have taken Seetaram to custody illegally, and though he got a bail he was not produced before the court.
Seetaram’s wife Rohini filed a habeas corpus petition after this.
The petitioner’s advocate, AK Subbaiah, submitted that on January 4, the Udupi police had arrested Seetaram.
On January 17, the sessions court granted him bail. Despite this, he was not released and was kept in police custody. After this, the police suddenly shifted him to the Mysore jail, without any prior notification. Over there, Seetaram was kept at the Mysore KR Hospital jail ward, considering his medical condition.
Subbaiah further submitted that Bajrang Dal workers in Udupi and Mangalore are very active under the aegis of the present home minister and almost all activities in the region are controlled by them.
Seetaram was arrested by the police on January 4 near Karkala in Udupi district in connection with an old case. On behalf of the state, advocate-general Uday Holla submitted that Seetaram was being tried for many cases.
At present, there are two body warrants issued against him by various courts. Seetaram, who was arrested in connection with a defamation suit, has received support from civil rights and secular activists and all those who believed in the freedom of speech.
Many of his supporters had reckoned that he was arrested because of his tireless crusade against communalisation of the society. Seetharam’s wife, Rohini, had earlier told DNA that her husband stood for values of secularism and practiced ethical journalism.
However, some influential persons pulled a coup against the paper, alleging that the paper was involved in ‘yellow journalism’, she had added.
Rohini was also in police custody for five days in connection with a news report that was published two years ago. She had said that they would emphasise on the issue of human rights violation, biased approach towards her husband and defend the freedom of the press among others.
