BENGALURU, May 23 -- The Karnataka government on Friday defended its decision to withdraw 52 criminal cases from prosecution, including seven linked to the 2022 communal violence at Ladle Mushtaq Dargah in Kalaburagi district, saying the move followed a detailed legal and administrative review by a cabinet sub-committee.

Home minister G Parameshwara said the cases were not dropped abruptly and had instead been examined individually after various organisations submitted representations to the government over several years.

"Pro-Kannada organisations and farmers' organisations had been giving representations on cases against them for several years now. The government referred it to a cabinet sub-committee, after discussing each case indiv...