In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s State unit, the High Court of Karnataka on Friday refused to quash a defamation case registered against the party, while declaring that an association of individuals, whether incorporated or not, like the petitioner-party, could be arraigned as an accused in a defamation case.
“... The word ‘whoever’ inter alia employed in sections 499 & 500 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) implicitly includes an association of individuals, whether incorporated or not, like the petitioner and such entities can be arraigned as accused in criminal proceedings of the kind,” the court held.
Justice Krishna S. Dixit passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by the BJP’s State unit questioning the cognisance of the offence of defamation taken against the party by the special court of magistrate for trial of cases against MPs/MLAs in 2022, on a complaint lodged by Rizwan Arshad, a Congress legislator.
