Karnataka High Court has stayed the defamation case filed by BJP against CM Siddaramaiah over Congress ads alleging corruption. The Court also tagged his plea with similar cases involving Rahul Gandhi and DK Shivakumar.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday put a temporary hold on a defamation case filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The case is related to allegations that Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders published newspaper advertisements with defamatory remarks against the previous BJP-led Karnataka government.
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This legal relief for Siddaramaiah comes after the High Court had earlier given similar interim protection to senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who are also accused in the same case.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar, who heard the matter, stayed the proceedings that were ongoing before the trial court against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The judge also decided to link his petition—seeking to cancel the criminal case—with other similar petitions filed by the other accused leaders in the High Court. The Court has now asked the BJP to file its response to Siddaramaiah’s petition.
The case revolves around advertisements allegedly published by the Indian National Congress (INC) and other leaders during the recent Karnataka Assembly elections. The BJP claims these ads were defamatory and falsely accused the previous BJP-led State government of corruption during its tenure from 2019 to 2023.
The main issue raised by the BJP is that the Congress leaders, through their ads, referred to the BJP government as a
“40 per cent commission sarkar”.
These allegations implied that under the leadership of then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the BJP government was involved in widespread corruption.
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The accusations included taking commissions for public procurement contracts, work orders, and even the supply of COVID-related materials.
In one of the newspaper ads, it was stated that the BJP-led State government had
“looted the Karnataka public of Rs 1,500 crore”
during its term.
The ads further claimed that the government had created a corrupt system with
“score cards” and “rate cards”
—phrases which reportedly referred to bribes that had to be paid in exchange for securing government positions or contracts.
Adding to the controversy, a similar statement was also made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a public speech, where he too allegedly referred to the BJP government as the
“40 per cent commission sarkar”.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is being represented by Karnataka’s Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty in the High Court.
The BJP argues that the content of the ads is false and defamatory, damaging the party’s image and reputation.
On the other hand, the Congress leaders have moved the High Court seeking to quash the proceedings, claiming that the case is politically motivated and aimed at silencing criticism.
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With the Karnataka High Court now having stayed the proceedings and clubbed the matter with related cases, the next step will involve hearing the BJP’s reply before the Court decides whether the defamation case will proceed or be quashed.
So far, the key statements under dispute include the following direct quotes used in the advertisements and speeches:
- “40 per cent commission sarkar”
- “looted the Karnataka public of Rs 1,500 crore”
- “score cards”
- “rate cards”
Case Title:
Siddaramaiah v. Bharatiya Janata Party
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