Bengaluru: In a relief to farmers who participated in various protests, the State Cabinet, on Tuesday, decided to withdraw 51 cases pending against them.

Out of 51 cases, 35 are pending against farmers and their leader and former MP, G. MadeGowda of the Cauvery Raitha Hitharakshana Samithi of Mandya. At a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, it was decided that cases booked in connection with protests seeking Cauvery water would be withdrawn.

Briefing on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy said criminal cases were pending against farmers who participated in protests related to the Yettinahole project in Hassan and the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project in Belagavi.

“Our Government knows agrarian problems and dilemmas of farmers facing criminal cases registered against them during the Cauvery agitation. Mandya farmers selflessly took part in the agitation only to protect the interests of the State,” he said. 

Asked whether the Government had decided to withdraw cases against BJP and RSS activists, the Minister said no such decision was taken and a large number of cases were related to farmers.

In another major decision, the Cabinet authorised the Police to further investigate a case of alleged conspiracy against Sri Raghaveshwara Bharathi Swamiji of Ramachandrapura Mutt.

During the Kamadhana Poornima Utsav at Gokarna, some people are said to have distributed “vulgar” CDs and articles against Raghaveshwara Bharathi. The accused “conspired to create communal disharmony and committed acts which threatened the unity and integrity of society,” the Minister said.

Madhuswamy said the case was booked on April 1, 2010, at the Gokarna Police Station under the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986. The case was brought before the Cabinet during the rule of the  Siddharamaiah government in 2015 for withdrawal, but a decision was not taken, the Minister said.