State Offers to Withdraw Case Against BJP’s Shobha Karandlaje Pending Public Apology
The Tamil Nadu government has proposed to withdraw the case against BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, provided she issues a formal apology at a press conference. This offer was presented before the Madras High Court on Wednesday, as part of the proceedings regarding a First Information Report (FIR) filed against Karandlaje by the Madurai City Cybercrime Police.
The FIR accuses Karandlaje of making incendiary remarks linking Tamil Nadu to the Rameshwaram Café blast in Bengaluru on March 1. According to the FIR, Karandlaje allegedly stated, “People trained in Tamil Nadu plant bombs here. Bomb was planted at the hotel.”
Tamil Nadu Advocate General PS Raman informed the court that the State would consider withdrawing the case if Karandlaje issued an apology, and shared a draft format of the expected apology. He made this statement before Justice G Jayachandran, who was hearing Karandlaje’s petition to quash the FIR.
Karandlaje’s legal team claimed that she had already apologized and expressed regret via the social media platform X. However, Justice Jayachandran expressed skepticism, suggesting that a public apology on X might not be sufficient given its limited reach. He noted that many people, including himself, do not use X, and emphasized that public figures need to be mindful of the impact of their statements.
The Court has granted Karandlaje’s counsel ten days to determine whether she is willing to hold a press conference for the apology.
(With inputs from agency)
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