Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday extended till December 11 an interim stay granted earlier on further proceedings against leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a case of criminal defamation filed by BJP’s Karnataka unit. The HC had, in January, granted by an interim order staying the trial before the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in Bengaluru.
Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav extended the interim stay and posted the case for December 11. BJP General secretary Keshav Prasad had filed the case against the Karnataka Congress, Gandhi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and deputy CM DK Shivakumar and CM (then leader of Opposition) Siddaramaiah ahead of the 2023 assembly polls.
The Congress had then launched an ad campaign of “PayCM,” which had rate cards of bribes that the party alleged had to be paid to ministers in the then BJP government to get work done. The party had alleged that every post had "rates" under the BJP regime, including Rs 2,500 crore for the Chief Minister’s post and Rs 500 crore for a minister’s post. Gandhi, the complaint said, had retweeted them on social media platform X.
Senior advocate Shashi Kiran Shetty, appearing for Gandhi, said the complaint lacked material as it alleged Gandhi was responsible for the publication of the impugned content. The allegation was merely that he only retweeted. The advertisements were not issued by Gandhi but the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
In cases of defamation, the senior advocate pointed out, those who published must also be made a party, but none of them have been made a party in this case, praying for quashing of the case.
Gandhi is currently on bail in the case granted by the special court of people’s representatives in Bengaluru. While Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar got bail in the case earlier after they personally appeared before the judge, Gandhi got it later after he personally appeared before the judge in June, last year.
Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav extended the interim stay and posted the case for December 11. BJP General secretary Keshav Prasad had filed the case against the Karnataka Congress, Gandhi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and deputy CM DK Shivakumar and CM (then leader of Opposition) Siddaramaiah ahead of the 2023 assembly polls.
The Congress had then launched an ad campaign of “PayCM,” which had rate cards of bribes that the party alleged had to be paid to ministers in the then BJP government to get work done. The party had alleged that every post had "rates" under the BJP regime, including Rs 2,500 crore for the Chief Minister’s post and Rs 500 crore for a minister’s post. Gandhi, the complaint said, had retweeted them on social media platform X.
Senior advocate Shashi Kiran Shetty, appearing for Gandhi, said the complaint lacked material as it alleged Gandhi was responsible for the publication of the impugned content. The allegation was merely that he only retweeted. The advertisements were not issued by Gandhi but the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
In cases of defamation, the senior advocate pointed out, those who published must also be made a party, but none of them have been made a party in this case, praying for quashing of the case.
Gandhi is currently on bail in the case granted by the special court of people’s representatives in Bengaluru. While Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar got bail in the case earlier after they personally appeared before the judge, Gandhi got it later after he personally appeared before the judge in June, last year.
