Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti was discharged by a local court on Thursday in a 10-year-old case in which she was accused of disrespecting the National Flag in Hubli in Karnataka during her Tiranga Yatra to Jallianwala Bagh.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Pankaj Maheshwari observed that photographs of the 2004 function did not show that Ms. Bharti, who was present in the court, had insulted the National Flag.
He said she was being discharged in the case and dismissed the private complaint against her.
On December 17, 2004, local Congress leader Deepchandra Yadav filed a complaint that Ms. Bharti had disrespected the National Flag and used it as a towel.
The magistrate dismissed the plaint that she had violated provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
