In a relief to Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the High Court of Karnataka on February 17 quashed the criminal proceedings in a defamation case filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The case was filed for allegedly issuing ‘defamatory’ advertisements in mainstream newspapers against the then BJP government in Karnataka during the campaign for the State Legislative Assembly elections in 2023.
Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav delivered the verdict while allowing a petition filed by Mr. Gandhi, who questioned the legality of the defamation case, in which he has been arraigned as accused number 4. The State unit of the BJP had lodged the complaint in the magistrate court in June 2023.
The continuance of proceedings against Mr. Gandhi would amount legal abuse, the court stated while dictating the operative portion of the verdict.
The complaint
The BJP had alleged in the complaint that ‘false, baseless, and reckless’ allegations were made under the title ‘Corruption rate card’ in advertisements issued on May 5, 2023, in all the mainstream newspapers in Karnataka, terming the then BJP government as a ‘40% sarkar’ and alleging that the BJP government had ‘looted over ₹1,50,000 crore from the people of the State during its 2019-2023 regime’.
The advertisements were issued by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee through D.K. Shivakumar, in his capacity as its president, and by Siddaramaiah, as the then Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Gandhi had put up these ‘defamatory advertisements’ on his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account. Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar have also been arraigned as accused.
Rahul’s contention
It has been contended in Mr. Gandhi’s petition that the alleged defamatory advertisements are criticism of the administration of the then BJP government in Karnataka, and criticising the administration cannot be brought under the purview of defamation. The criticism made in the contentious advertisements comes under the exemptions provided under Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code for making imputation in good faith, he claimed in the petition.
It was claimed that a private organisation, the BJP, cannot prosecute a defamation case on behalf of the then constitutional functionaries and public servants as it is only the State that is vested with such a power to initiate defamation proceedings.
“If at all a complaint under Section 499, read with Section 500, can be filed, it can only be filed by the Karnataka government, and not by any other person. Therefore, the complaint [BJP’s State unit] is not the competent entity to file the complaint, as the statements alleged to be defamatory is criticism of the then government’s administration, and no statement has been made against the complainant/political party.”
Exemption
In June 2023, Mr. Gandhi appeared in the Special Court of Magistrate for criminal cases against former and present MPs and MLAs in Bengaluru following a specific direction by the court, as he had failed to respond to multiple summons.
In December 2024, the special court, considering his role and duties as Leader of Opposition, exempted him from personal appearance during the trial of the defamation case, but imposed certain conditions. The proceedings against Mr. Gandhi were stayed by the High Court of Karnataka in January 2025.
Published – February 17, 2026 01:38 pm IST
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