Rajya Sabha Election Bribery Row | 'No Cognizable Offence Remains, S140(1) BNS Deleted': Accused Challenging FIR Tells Karnataka High Court

Four persons accused of attempting to bribe Odisha Congress MLAs to vote in favour of a BJP candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections conducted in March, told the Karnataka High Court on Thursday (June 4) that the FIR would not survive because the allegations at their highest attracted only non-cognisable offences.

Advocate Angad Kamath appearing for the accused said that the police included Section 140(1) BNS [kidnapping with intent to murder or for ransom] to effect arrest and later deleted the said cognisable offence conveniently, Kamath said further. The petitioners had approached the high court seeking quashing of the FIR.

Before Justice M Nagaprasanna, Kamath submitted today that the subject matter in hand originally made out only non-cognisable offences, for which no FIR could have been lodged without prior permission from a magistrate.

“Would an FIR be registered without permission from the magistrate on allegations which at the highest attract only non-cognisable offences?”, Adv. Angad Kamath iterated the question posed by the single judge bench last time and proceeded to make submissions regarding the same.

“…To register FIR, they include Section 140(1) . After registering, they delete it later at the time of production before the magistrate…They arrest me using the cognisable provision…. If the four-line complaint about attempt to bribery is perused, which under IPC/BNS are non-cognisable… FIR could not have been registered by invoking Section 140(1) and deleting it later…. Entire consequential proceedings should go,” Kamath submitted before Justice M. Nagaprasanna.

After noting Kamath's submissions, the court listed the matter for further hearing on June 17, and clarified that the interim order of stay on further probe will continue.

Earlier, by way of an interim order dated April 21, the single judge bench had restrained the State from taking any coercive steps against the accused persons booked in the FIR. Subsequently, on April 24, the court stayed the probe against the four men who allegedly attempted to bribe the Congress MLAs to vote in favour of BJP candidate during the Odisha Rajya Sabha Elections held in March.

Context

The petitioners include a lawyer from Odisha, a former real estate company CEO, and two businessmen. They had previously claimed in the petition that they were scouting for a plot to establish a hotel in Karnataka by availing the legal assistance of the first petitioner. It is stated that they were staying at Wonderla Hotel and Resort in Bidadi.

The plea states that, meanwhile, elections to the Rajya Sabha from the State of Odisha were scheduled for 16.03.2026, and in the run-up to the elections, the Congress had shifted some of its MLAs to the same resort in Bidadi, on an apprehension that attempts were being made to influence or poach them.

The plea further adds that on 15.03.2026, while the petitioners were at the restaurant in the resort, some persons confronted them on the allegation that Petitioner No.1 was attempting to financially entice MLAs from Odisha. The petitioners stated that police thereafter restrained them and kept them in custody. The plea states that they were then informed that Respondent No.2, Ashok Kumar Das, Deputy Leader of the Congress Party, Odisha, had lodged a complaint against them.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was lodged under Sections 173 (punishment for bribery), 62 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) read with 3(5) (common intention) BNS and Sections 7A and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act on 15.03.2026. Notably, the petitioners were granted regular bail on March 23.

They (petitioners) have also argued that the FIR narrative itself is confined to an alleged election-related inducement/threat episode at the resort, yet the matter was converted into a wider cognizable prosecution. According to the petitioners, the police has wrongly charged them for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and BNS, 2023.

Case Title: Mr. Birendra Prasad and Others vs. The State of Karnataka and AnotherCase No: Crl P No. 6174 of 2026