BENGALURU: The defamation suit against former MLA Suresh Gowda will continue with the Karnataka High Court refusing to quash the proceedings initiated against him based on a complaint filed by Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy.
Justice M Nagaprasanna rejected the petition filed by Gowda questioning the proceedings initiated for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Chaluvarayaswamy during the 2023 Assembly elections.
Chaluvarayaswamy had lodged the complaint with the magistrate on the grounds that several statements made by Gowda, who lost the 2023 Assembly elections against him from Nagamangala, amount to offences punishable under Section 499 of the IPC.
Acting on the complaint, the magistrate had passed the order taking cognisance of the offence after recording the sworn statement of the complainant and issued summons to Gowda, who moved the high court questioning the same.
The court said the statements of the petitioner published in the media after he lost the elections against the complainant were, per se, defamatory, albeit prima facie. To say that the statements are not defamatory requires a full trial for the petitioner. The order passed by the magistrate is a product of cogent reasoning, it said.