Belagavi Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To BJP Leader Booked Over Alleged Attempt To Delete 198 Muslim Voters' Names During SIR
A Sessions Court in Karnataka's Belagavi has granted anticipatory bail to BJP leader Dr. Ravi Basalingappagowda Patil, in connection with an FIR alleging fraudulent deletion of voters belonging to Muslim Community from the electoral rolls, during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The order was passed by Judge Gangadhara K.N., who noted that mere submission of Form No. 7...
A Sessions Court in Karnataka's Belagavi has granted anticipatory bail to BJP leader Dr. Ravi Basalingappagowda Patil, in connection with an FIR alleging fraudulent deletion of voters belonging to Muslim Community from the electoral rolls, during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
The order was passed by Judge Gangadhara K.N., who noted that mere submission of Form No. 7 does not automatically trigger action, since electoral authorities conduct their own verification.
“….firstly, if at all the present petitioner and others have submitted a created Form No.7, they are already with the BLO attached to the election section of the Belagavi Mahanagar Palike. The case is based on documentary evidence and moreover mere submission of Form No.7, the election authority will not automatically act, they will do their own enquiry, verification. That apart, though incident was allegedly held on 26.9.2026, the present complaint being lodged on 1.10.2026 which is almost after lapse of more than 8 days and moreover it is the election authority has to dispute on the particular document and not the persons belonging to particular party…”, the court noted.
According to the police, a block agent of an opposing political party had alleged that the accused persons including the doctor, planning to erase the names of the voters belonging to the particular community, submitted approximately 198 fabricated Form No. 7 applications to the BLO attached to the election section of the Belagavi Mahanagar Palike.
According to the complaint, though the 198 voters sought to be deleted were originally residing in the earlier addresses shown in the list, the accused persons including the BJP functionary submitted Form 7 applications to deliberately exclude Muslim voters.
Based on the complaint, the SHO of Market Police Station, Belagavi, registered the case and issued a notice under Section 35(1) of the BNS.
The doctor-politician was charged for offences under Sections 318(4), 336(3), 336(4), 353, 61(2), 3(5), 3(7), 192 read with Section 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) .
Before the High Court, Patil contended that he is a doctor, hails from a respectable family and has no connection to the alleged offences.
While stating that he would cooperate with the investigation, Patil expressed apprehension that if he were arrested, there would be irreparable damage to his reputation.
The Court further noted that though the offences are non-bailable, they are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life. Consequently, the Court found that Patil had made out a prima facie case for grant of pre-arrest bail.
Accordingly, the court granted pre-arrest bail with the conditions such as the petitioner executing a bail bond for Rs. 50,000 with one surety for the like sum.
Adv. R.G. Patil appeared for the petitioner.