Earlier this month, on 4 July, the court also stayed the proceedings against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Published Jul 11, 2025 | 12:29 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 11, 2025 | 12:29 PM
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
Karnataka High Court on Friday, 11 July, through an interim order stayed trial against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the criminal defamation case filed by Karnataka BJP over “false campaigning” by Congress ahead of the 2023 state assembly elections.
According to Livelaw, a single judge Justice S R Krishna Kumar issued notice to the respondent and stayed the proceedings pending before the trial court.
Earlier this month, on 4 July, the court also stayed the proceedings against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, and the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). In January, the court issued the same relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too.
The BJP had filed complaints against Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Shivakumar, accusing the Congress leaders of putting out false advertisements against its party leaders, including the then-chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.
It was BJP MLC and General Secretary S KeshavaPrasad who had filed the defamation case against Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
In February 2024, the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court had directed the registration of a criminal case against the accused persons, as well as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
In the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023, the Congress accused the BJP of “40 percent corruption” and placed several advertisements in newspapers alleging corruption by the then-ruling party.
Also, a poster campaign was launched targeting Bommai by displaying “PayCM” posters with the then-chief minister’s images across the city. The Congress also published a “corruption rate card” against the former government.
The BJP filed a defamation case against the Congress leaders after the Assembly elections, alleging that the advertisements damaged the party’s image. Vinod Kumar, the BJP’s lawyer, argued in court that the “false” advertisements had harmed the BJP’s reputation.
