'No Publication Or Tweet Attributed To Me': Rahul Gandhi Tells Karnataka High Court In Plea To Quash Defamation Case By State BJP

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told the Karnataka High Court on Thursday (December 11) that there was no material linking him to the publication or tweets, alleged to be defamatory on the basis of which the State BJP had lodged a complaint against him.

The court was hearing Gandhi's plea seeking quashing of criminal defamation proceedings initiated against him by the State BJP over an alleged defamatory advertisement and related social media posts.

The case arises out of the Congress party's “Corruption Rate Card” advertisement which claimed that various posts and transfers under the then-BJP government carried fixed “rates” and “commissions”. The BJP alleges that the advertisement is defamatory, false, and based on “fanciful imagination”.

The complaint also takes objection to the phrase “trouble engine Sarkar”, allegedly used instead of BJP's slogan “double engine Sarkar”, contending that it was intended to malign the party's reputation ahead of elections.

Appearing for the petitioner, Senior Advocate Shashi Kiran Shetty submitted before Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav that the complaint itself disclosed no material linking Rahul Gandhi to the publication in question.

“There is no publication or tweet attributed to the petitioner. Even assuming there is some publication by someone else, it concerns the government, not the complainant. The government itself did not initiate any action,” he argued.

Shetty contended that a third party could not maintain a defamation complaint when the allegedly defamatory material did not concern it. He added that at the time of the alleged offence, Rahul Gandhi was neither a Member of Parliament nor holding any party position.

“There is no document to show I was the Vice President of the party; it is undisputed that I was not VP during the publication of the tweet,” he said. The Bench directed him to file a memo to that effect.

Arguing that the summons issued by the magistrate suffered from “non-application of mind”, Shetty maintained that no prima facie case had been made out.

He further submitted that there was no evidence showing Rahul Gandhi's participation in authorising the advertisement, and no material establishing mens rea. The allegations, he said, were generic, and the prosecution had failed to place any proof of an alleged tweet by the Congress leader.

Referring to the impugned advertisement, Shetty told the Court that it attempted to conflate the State government with a political party. “Government of Karnataka is not BJP,” he said, emphasising the absence of any material connecting the petitioner to the publication.

Opposing the plea, Advocate Vinod Kumar M., appearing for the BJP, argued that the allegations clearly targeted the party.

“Since 2019, who ruled? BJP. So it is against BJP,” he submitted.

Once elections are declared, he said, attributing corruption allegations in advertisements amounted to targeting the ruling party, not merely the government.

“Not even a single truth is there in the allegations made. They are lawmakers; they should have been careful,” he argued, asserting that the “40 percent sarkara” reference was plainly aimed at the BJP.

Kumar maintained that even though the advertisement did not explicitly name the party, its content was clearly directed at it, thereby giving the BJP the locus to file the complaint. He also referred to Section 499(2) IPC while pressing his opposition to the quashing plea.

Continuing the operation of the interim order, the court listed the matter on December 18

Case title: Rahul Gandhi v/s Bharatiya Janata Party

Case No: CRL.P 14473/2024