The Karnataka High Court has placed an interim stay on the trial of Rahul in the defamation case

The Karnataka High Court on Friday issued an interim order staying the trial court proceedings against Congress president and MP Rahul Gandhi in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criminal defamation case. Senior advocate Sasikiran Shetty, appearing on behalf of Rahul Gandhi, said before the bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna that this is the first time that this case has come up for trial. In fact, the Karnataka High Court stayed the BJP's defamation case against Rahul Gandhi. During the 2023 assembly elections, there was a complaint that the reputation of the party was being jeopardized by false advertisements in newspapers. Hearing Rahul Gandhi's petition, Justice M. Nagaprasanna heard the petition filed by Rahul Gandhi challenging the validity of the defamation case and issued an immediate notice to the BJP, imposing an interim stay on the pending proceedings in the PMLA court. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and TK Sivakumar also appeared before the special court in connection with the case as the summons was issued on June 7, 2024. Although the court granted him bail. Accused of defaming the BJP, the BJP has filed a complaint against the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KBCC) and Deputy Chief Minister DK Sivakumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi for defaming the party by publishing false advertisements in newspapers. Assembly elections registered. The High Court, after hearing the petition, directed an urgent notice to be sent to the respondent to be returned by February 20. Further proceedings will be stayed by the interim order. The next hearing will be held on February 20. The High Court has fixed the next hearing of this case on February 20. The defamation case related to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee's corrupt payment card advertisement, in which BJP leaders were accused of demanding commissions for government appointments and transfers. The advertisement, issued ahead of the assembly elections, accused the then BJP government of the state of large-scale corruption during its rule from 2019-2023. The BJP dismissed the Congress claims as false and baseless. Following the court order, Rahul appeared before the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on June 1, 2024. A magistrate court granted him bail in this case in June last year. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister TK Sivakumar were also granted bail in the case.