A court in Bengaluru has granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by the BJP Karnataka unit. The case is about ads published before last year’s assembly elections that accused the BJP government in Karnataka of being corrupt during its 2019-2023 term. In June 2023, the BJP complained that these ads, published on May 5, 2023, in major Karnataka newspapers, made false claims. The ads, titled “Corruption rate card,” accused the BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai government of being a “40 per cent Commission Sarkara (government).”
The complaint said the ads were issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, led by its president, Shivakumar, and Siddaramaiah, the then Leader of the Opposition. It also noted that Rahul Gandhi shared the “defamatory advertisement” on his social media account. On June 1, the court granted bail to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar after they appeared in connection with the case. Judge K N Shivakumar set June 7 for Rahul Gandhi’s personal appearance. During the hearing, Gandhi’s lawyer asked for an exemption from appearance, which the complainant’s side opposed, arguing against repeated exemptions.
In another case, a court in Prayagraj postponed the hearing of a 2018 defamation case against Rahul Gandhi regarding his remarks about Union home minister Amit Shah. The hearing was rescheduled to June 18 due to a lawyer’s death. The case, filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra, relates to comments Gandhi made in May 2018 during a press conference in Bengaluru, alleging Shah’s involvement in a murder case.
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