A special court has rejected a defamation complaint lodged by two persons alleging that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was then Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, had defamed the entire Lingayat community by making a statement that, “Chief Ministers, who are Lingayats, have spoiled the State due to their corrupt nature” during an election campaign in Mysuru in April.
‘On CM of the day’
The court, after perusing the audio-video footage of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s statement made in Kannada pointed out that “the statement is not made in respect of the entire Lingayat community, but only in respect of the Chief Minister, who was holding the position of Chief Minister as on the date of the statement”.
