The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed the city police to strictly adhere to the guidelines issued by the apex court while questioning former Minister Byrathi Basavaraj, who is arraigned as one of the accused in the murder of a rowdy sheeter.

Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar passed the interim order on a petition filed by Mr. Basavaraj, BJP MLA from K.R. Puram constituency, who has questioned the First Information Report registered against him based on the complaint filed by Vijayalakshmi, who had witnessed murder of her son Shivaprakash.

While the police had said that the complainant’s mother had alleged that her son was murdered by unidentified assailants who were instigated by the MLA over a land dispute, it has been argued on behalf of Mr. Basavaraj that mother of the victim had only stated that unknown persons killed her son, but it was the police who arraigned the MLA as an accused though complainant had not taken his name.

It was also claimed before the court that Vijayalakshmi, in an interview given to certain television channels, has claimed that she had not taken MLA’s name in the complaint, but it was the police who added his name.

However, the State Public Prosecutor pointed out to the court that Shivaprakash in February lodged a complaint of threat from three persons, including from Mr. Basavaraj, and that ‘threat has become a reality’ in his death. The prosecutor also claimed that the complainant’s statement to television channels is an indication of the ‘winning over of the witnesses’ by the accused persons.