BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed criminal proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by the BJP's Karnataka unit. The case pertains to advertisements during the 2023 Assembly elections campaign, accusing the BJP of corruption.
Justice M Nagaprasanna issued an interim stay on proceedings pending before the Special Court for cases involving sitting and former MLAs and MPs. The court also issued an emergent notice to the BJP after hearing Rahul Gandhi’s petition challenging the case's legality.
The BJP had filed the complaint against the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and Rahul Gandhi, alleging defamation through newspaper advertisements on May 5, 2023. The ads accused the BJP of demanding up to 40% commission from contractors.
The BJP in its complaint had said that false and reckless allegations were made in the advertisements issued by the accused persons in all the mainstream newspapers during campaigning, under the title "Corruption rate card" and making accusations of "40 per cent Commission Sarkara (government)".
Rahul Gandhi appeared before the special court on June 7, 2024, in response to a summons and was granted bail. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had earlier appeared and were also granted bail.