D.J. Halli violence: HC upholds warrants issued to search premises of SDPI

The Karnataka High Court has rejected a petition filed by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) questioning the legality of warrants issued by a special court to search its premises in connection with the August 11, 2020, violence in D.J. Halli-K.G. Halli.

Contending that the investigating agency should have issued summons under provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) for production of materials and documents prior to approaching the court for a search warrant, it was argued on behalf of SDPI that search warrants issued on August 30 were not as per the law.

However, the counsel for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) contended that the petitioner had not approached the High Court with “clean hands”, as it has not disclosed the fact that the cases were transferred to the NIA and the party had moved the special court for NIA cases for release of seized materials, and that the application was rejected in October last year.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj, who heard the petition, held that it was not required in all circumstances to issue a summons prior to issuance of a search warrant.

“A perusal of the mahazar report indicates that all the requirements of carrying out of the search have been complied with... there is no infirmity in the search and seizure made in the present case,” the court observed while dismissing the petition.