Meanwhile, the high court bench of Justice SR Krishna Kumar issued notice to the respondent and sought a response by 29 July.
Published Jul 04, 2025 | 2:39 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 04, 2025 | 2:39 PM
DK Shivakumar. (X)
Synopsis: The Karnataka High Court stayed the trial court proceedings against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a criminal defamation case filed by the state BJP unit.
In an interim order passed on Friday, 4 July, the Karnataka High Court stayed the trial court proceedings against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a criminal defamation case filed by the state BJP unit.
The same relief was also extended to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), reported LiveLaw.
Meanwhile, the high court bench of Justice SR Krishna Kumar issued notice to the respondent and sought a response by 29 July. In the same case, the high court had earlier stayed the trial against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in January this year.
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.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
