HC reserves order on plea by Siddaramaiah, DKS seeking to quash defamation case

The Karnataka High Court reserved its order on Thursday on petitions filed by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking to quash a defamation case. The case was initiated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Congress leaders for allegedly damaging the party's reputation ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.

The controversy stems from a series of newspaper advertisements published by the Congress on May 5, 2023, accusing the BJP government of widespread corruption. Counsel representing the BJP alleged that the advertisements were a deliberate attempt to harm the party's image before the voters, contributing to the BJP losing 40 Assembly seats and losing around 10% of its votes.

The petitioners' counsel argued that the complainant had not obtained the necessary authorization from the party's national unit before filing the complaint and highlighted that proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the same matter had already been dismissed. The High Court will now decide whether to uphold or quash the defamation case against Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.