The Supreme Court has strongly rebuked the Karnataka government for pursuing a criminal case against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over a social media post. The court dismissed the state's appeal against the High Court's decision to quash the case, further cautioning against the politicization of legal matters. A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran also imposed a cost of ₹25 lakh on the state for bringing the matter to the apex court.

The case originated from a post shared by Surya on November 7, 2024, on social media platform X. In the post, he cited Kannada news portals that claimed a farmer, Rudrappa Channappa Balikai, had died by suicide after discovering his land was taken over by the Waqf Board. The post was later deleted when it was revealed that the claim was inaccurate. The Haveri Superintendent of Police clarified that Balikai's suicide on January 6, 2022, was due to financial distress from crop losses and debts, and was unrelated to any Waqf Board dispute.

Following this, a suo-motu case was registered against Surya under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly publishing statements intended to promote hatred, ill-will, or enmity between groups. The Karnataka High Court quashed the FIR against Surya, stating that allowing the criminal proceedings would be an abuse of the legal process, especially when there was nothing to investigate. Justice M. Nagaprasanna of the High Court noted that "the tweet is posted; tweet is clarified; and tweet is deleted. Therefore, it is ununderstandable as to how the ingredients of Section 353(2) of BNS are met in the case at hand".

The Karnataka government then appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the High Court's order. During the hearing, the Supreme Court bench firmly told the state counsel, "Don't politicise the matter. Fight your battles before the electorate". The court dismissed the state's plea and imposed a fine of ₹25 lakh.

The Supreme Court's strong stance against the Karnataka government's appeal underscores its concern about the misuse of legal proceedings for political purposes. The court has repeatedly emphasized that courts are not platforms for political battles and that such conflicts should be resolved through the electoral process.

Following the Supreme Court verdict, Tejasvi Surya posted on X: “For long, Congress has run a calculated misinformation campaign against me, even abusing police & judiciary to settle political scores. This judgment should serve as a lesson".