The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday set aside the criminal defamation proceedings initiated against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on a complaint filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The order was passed by Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav while allowing a plea moved by Gandhi challenging the proceedings.
"The petition is allowed. Allowing the proceedings to continue would amount to an abuse of the process of law. Proceedings so far as the petitioner (Rahul Gandhi) is concerned is set aside," the Court directed.
The defamation complaint was lodged by a BJP leader against Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, alleging that Congress advertisements and campaign slogans ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections were defamatory.
In those advertisements, the Congress party had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was then in power in the State, of demanding up to a “40 per cent commission” from contractors and others for the execution of public works.
The BJP, in its complaint, claimed that the advertisements were false and deliberately targeted its leaders, including the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
While Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were granted bail by a Magistrate court on June 1, 2024, Gandhi was extended similar relief on June 7, 2024.
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