Bengaluru
A Zero FIR has been registered in Bengaluru following a complaint alleging that a “shuddhikaran (purification)” ritual was conducted at Ramlila Ground in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani after Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public rally at the venue on August 8, 2026.
The complaint was filed on August 31 by T.R. Ramappa, former vice-chairman of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Department of the Congress. Following the complaint, a Zero FIR was registered at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station in Bengaluru City on Friday. Reacting to the registration of the case, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said that the alleged incident in Uttarakhand was against the principles of the Constitution and that the police had a duty to register a case when a complaint was submitted. “What has happened in Uttarakhand is against the Constitution. When somebody comes and files a complaint, it is our duty to register an FIR, which should have been done by the Uttarakhand government. The Delhi government should have taken cognisance of it, and the Home Minister should have spoken about it. Unfortunately, they cannot do anything because that is the RSS mindset, and going against them (the RSS) is not good for them (the BJP),” Priyank Kharge said.
According to the FIR, Ramappa alleged that certain members and functionaries of the BJP organised and carried out a ‘Shuddhikaran’ ritual at the same venue on August 10, two days after Kharge’s rally. The complaint alleged that the purported purification ritual was intended to convey what Ramappa described as a “deeply offensive, derogatory and casteist notion” that Kharge’s presence had rendered the venue “impure” because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. Ramappa further alleged that the incident was not merely an objectionable act but constituted a deliberate and deeply insulting action directed at Kharge’s dignity, identity and social status. The complaint also alleged that Mahendra Bhatt, president of the BJP in Uttarakhand, publicly defended, justified and endorsed the alleged purification ritual through statements made to the media following the incident. The case names “Uttarakhand State BJP members and others” as the accused.
The FIR identifies the accused as adult males from Nainital in Uttarakhand. The FIR records alleged offences under Section 7(1)(d) and Section 7(1)(c) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, Section 3(1)(u) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and Section 196(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The complaint was registered at the Vidhana Soudha Police Station in Bengaluru City even though the alleged incident took place at Ramlila Ground in Haldwani. The venue falls under the jurisdiction of Haldwani Kotwali Police Station in Nainital district. A Zero FIR, however, can be registered at any police station irrespective of the location where the alleged offence took place. The FIR can subsequently be transferred to the police station having territorial jurisdiction over the matter for further investigation.