BENGALURU: The High Court of Karnataka on Saturday quashed the proceedings against former chief minister Siddaramaiah and current Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a defamation case filed by the BJP state unit against them for publishing in newspapers a “corruption rate card” in the 2023 Assembly elections.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing the petition filed by Siddaramaiah and the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) represented by its then president and current Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, questioning the legality of the proceedings pending against them before a special court in the city.
The BJP had filed a private complaint against the petitioners and the KPCC for allegedly publishing a “derogatory” advertisement in major newspapers on May 5, 2023, regarding “prices of various posts” in the BJP government in its tenure between 2019 and 2023. A legal notice was issued to them to tender an unconditional apology, which they ignored. On May 9, 2023, invoking Section 200 of the CrPC, a private complaint was filed and taking cognisance of it, a special court issued summons. Then they moved the high court.
The counsel appearing for the petitioners contended that there is a violation of the procedure under Section 199 of the CrPC, as there is no sanction and the complainant is not an aggrieved person.
Similar issues were considered by the coordinate bench of the high court in the case of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was accused No.4, and quashed the same, he argued.
The counsel for the complainant contended that the very act of publication of an advertisement with regard to corruption in the government would amount to defaming the government and, therefore, the matter must be put on trial.
The court noted that the coordinate bench was considering the case of Gandhi’s intention and involvement in publishing the advertisement, and whether the political party is a person aggrieved. None of the persons or entities referred to here is before the court, and accordingly, the aggrieved person in the advertisement series factually cannot be the political party, the court said.
