Supreme Court grants relief to HD Kumaraswamy in contempt case over land encroachment

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed a Karnataka High Court order that had added Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy as a party in an ongoing contempt of court case related to alleged land encroachment in Ramanagara Taluk near Bengaluru [HD Kumaraswamy vs. Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) & Ors.]..A Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and PB Varale stayed Kumaraswamy's impleadment in the matter and also questioned the maintainability of the contempt case, particularly in light of a closure report filed by the Karnataka Lokayukta in 2021..The case relates to allegations made against Kumaraswamy and his associates, accusing them of illegally acquiring over 200 acres of government land, including 110 acres of pasture (gomala) land in Kethaganahalli near Bidadi. Based on the Lokayukta’s report, a public interest litigation petition was filed in 2020 before the Karnataka High Court by Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) seeking an inquiry. Though Kumaraswamy was arrayed as a party in that writ petition, no notice was issued to him.On January 14, 2020, the High Court disposed of the petition, relying on the State’s assurance that it would conduct an appropriate inquiry. Later that year, SPS initiated contempt proceedings alleging non-compliance. Initially, Kumaraswamy was named in the contempt case but was subsequently removed from the list of parties by the High Court itself..Meanwhile, the Lokayukta formally closed the case on March 3, 2021. Despite this, the High Court continued monitoring the matter and passed directions for eviction. Based on these directions, an eviction notice was issued to Kumaraswamy by the Tahsildar of Ramanagara Taluk. This was the first time the former Karnataka Chief Minister became aware of the contempt of court proceedings.He then approached the Supreme Court..On May 6, 2025, the Supreme Court disposed of his first petition, granting him liberty to raise his objections before the High Court. Pursuant to this, Kumaraswamy filed an application tracing the sequence of events, including the closure of the complaint and the fact that no notice was issued to him when the writ petition was being heard. However, on April 17, 2025, the High Court passed an order impleading him once again as an accused in the contempt case..Challenging this fresh impleadment, he approached the Supreme Court once again. .When the matter came up today, the Court issued notice to the respondents and passed an interim order staying the High Court’s impleadment of Kumaraswamy in the contempt proceedings until further orders..Kumaraswamy was represented by Senior Advocate C Aryama Sundaram. .Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for Samaj Parivartana Samudaya.