The Karnataka High Court has given relief to singer Sonu Nigam for allegedly insulting the Kannada community. The court has ordered that no punitive action will be taken against Sonu, but they will cooperate in the investigation. Sonu Nigam had petitioned the High Court to cancel the criminal case filed against him. Last month, the Bangalore police had registered a case under other sections, including Section 351 (2) (criminal intimidation), 352 (1) (insulting with the intention of disturbing peace) and 353 (statement feared to incite public mischief) on the complaint after a controversy in the music concert. A bench of Justice Shivshankar Amarnavar said that the court has assured the court that if Sonu Nigam cooperates in the investigation, no punitive action will be taken against him.
An application was given to cancel FIR
Dharmaraj Anantaiya, president of Karnataka Rakshan Vedike, said in his complaint that Sonu Nigam has not only insulted the Kannada people, but also compared the request of Kannada to sing to the terrorist act and compared his cultural pride and linguistic identity to violence and intolerance. During the hearing, Singer’s lawyer cited public apology, while the government argued that the comment was made during live broadcast and legal action is appropriate. In this case, Sonu had clarified that there were four-five goons of people who were shouting ‘Kannada-Kannada’ loudly. Some girls were explaining to them that do not do this, the atmosphere is deteriorating. I just wanted to tell those four-five people that when the terrorists attacked in Pahalgam, they did not ask anyone which language they speak.
Kannada Song Controversy: Relief for Singer #Sonunigam
– HC Order: No Coercive Action.
– HC to Sonu Nigam: Cooperate with Proble@Madrassan_pinky Shares more details with @Priyabahal22 pic.twitter.com/kpxeptxfym
– Times Now (@TimesNow) May 15, 2025
What was the matter?
The dispute took place on 25 April during a music concert at an engineering college in Bengaluru. During the concert, the audience demanded Sonu to sing in Kannada. Singer objected to the way of request and angrily imposed classes of those boys. Referring to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, he said that ‘Kannada, Kannada, Kannada. This is why Pahalgam was done. There was an uproar over this comment on social media and the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce decided to ban them. Sonu apologized as soon as the matter progressed.
