Karnataka High Court Quashes BJP's Defamation Case Against Former CM Siddaramaiah Over 'Corruption Rate Card' Ads
The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday (November 4) quashed a criminal defamation case filed against former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, by the State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.
Last year the high court had stayed the proceedings.
Justice M Nagaprasanna while pronouncing the order said, "allowed, quashed".
A detailed copy of the order is awaited.
On July 4, the court stayed the trial court proceedings against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a criminal defamation case filed by the State BJP unit. The same relief was also extended to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). In the same case, the High Court stayed the trial against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in January this year.
The complaint by the state BJP Unit is primarily against “Corruption Rate card” advertisements issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee in local newspapers and 'false campaigning' by Congress ahead of the 2023 state assembly elections. The trial court had in 2023 take cognizance of the matter.
It is the case of the State BJP Unit that the advertisements damaged the BJP's image, as they claimed certain 'rates' and 'commissions' are charged by the BJP for appointment and transfer to various positions in government departments. BJP claims it to be false and based on the "fanciful imagination" of the accused.
BJP claims that the use of the word “trouble engine Sarkar” in the alleged advertisements by the accused in the place of the widely popular usage “double engine Sarkar” showed an intention to malign the name and reputation of the BJP and to affect its chances in the elections.