The special court in Bengaluru has taken cognisance of the offence of defamation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly issuing defamatory advertisement in mainstream newspapers falsely accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of allegedly indulging in a large-scale corruption during 2019-2023.
Preeth J., the judge of the special court of magistrate set up to deal with the criminal cases against former and the present MPs and MLAs from Karnataka, passed the order on a complaint lodged by the BJP.
“...I am satisfied that the complainant has made out a prima facie case to take cognisance of the offences under section 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code and to proceed further,” the court said in its order passed on June 13 while adjourning further hearing till July 27 for recording the sworn statement of the complainant.
