As many as 21 cases involving communal violence and violence in the course of cow protection were dropped by courts in Karnataka between October and December last year, based on an August 31, 2020 order by the BJP government. The criminal cases were dropped ahead of a December 21, 2020 order of the Karnataka High Court, asking the state government not to stop prosecution of the cases. However, court records for the 21 cases involving communal incidents that occurred between 2014 and 2019 show that the Karnataka government approached trial courts soon after the August 31, 2020 order was issued, seeking withdrawal of the cases. The other cases of communal incidents in Hunsur were all withdrawn on November 26 last year. Among the other communally linked cases dropped by the government are two from Bidar town, based on the request of Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan.

Source: Indian Express January 28, 2021 22:41 UTC