Bangalore: A Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court today (Aug 27, 2004) ordered issue of notice to the State Government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a direction for withdrawal of cases filed against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti, now in jail at Dharwad.

Chief Justice N K Jain and Justice V G Sabahit, constituting the bench, adjourned further hearing on the petition to August 30.

The Bench also directed the Hubli court which had issued a non-bailable warrant against Bharti, to submit all the documents pertaining to the case filed against the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader.

The petitioner Raghunatha Gouda, a farmer of Dharwad, contended that the arrest of Bharti had created a law and order problem in Hubli and Dharwad after Government decided to reopen the 10-year old case.

Bharti, who surrendered before the Hubli court on Wednesday (Aug 25, 2004) and was remanded to judicial custody till September 7, is presently lodged at the guesthouse of the agricultural university at Dharwad, which has been turned into a prison.

She is facing the charges of rioting and attempt to murder for defying curfew during the BJP-led agitation to unfurl the national tricolour at the disputed Idgah Maidan in 1994 which later led to violence and death of six persons in police firing.