Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday quashed a private defamation complaint filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Congress’ ’40 per cent commission rate card’ advertisements published ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, providing relief to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order on the petition challenging the complaint.
The development comes after the High Court, on July 4, had stayed the proceedings in the criminal defamation case against Shivakumar, who was the Deputy Chief Minister at the time.
The court had also granted similar relief to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
In January this year, the High Court had stayed the proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, in connection with the same case.
The complaint was filed by the BJP’s Karnataka unit ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, alleging that the KPCC had published advertisements in local newspapers carrying a ‘corruption rate card’ and had conducted a false campaign against the party.
The trial court had taken cognisance of the complaint in 2023.
The advertisements had alleged that the BJP government was collecting specific amounts as commissions for appointments and transfers in various government departments. They accused the then ruling BJP of fixing rates for different government-related activities.
The BJP’s state unit contended that the advertisements were defamatory and had damaged the party’s reputation.
It alleged that the accused had made false allegations based on imaginary assumptions and sought legal action against them.
The complaint had named Congress leaders, including Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi, in connection with the publication and circulation of the advertisements.
With the latest order, the High Court has quashed the private complaint, granting relief to Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in the case.
The detailed reasoning behind the court’s decision will be known once the order is made available.
(IANS)
