Defamation case: Rahul Gandhi asked to appear before Bengaluru court on June 7

CONGRESS leader Rahul Gandhi has been asked to appear before a court in Bengaluru in connection with a defamation case filed by a BJP leader. He has been asked to appear in court on June 7.

The Special Court for People’s Representatives in Bengaluru also granted bail to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar in connection with the matter.

The defamation case on alleged false advertisements was filed by BJP general secretary Keshav Prasad.

While Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar appeared in person before the Bengaluru court, Gandhi, who was also supposed to appear, did not turn up.

To this, the BJP raised objections saying Gandhi should not be given an exemption under CrPC 205 since he had skipped an appearance for the second time.

However, Congress had argued that Gandhi was attending the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi and was also a contestant in the Lok Sabha polls and requested the court for exemption from Saturday's hearing.

They also promised that the Congress leader would be present on the next date. 

The court granted an exemption to Gandhi and directed him to be present before it on June 7.

What did the Congress do?

In the run-up to the 2023 Assembly election in Karnataka, the Congress had run a campaign of '40 per cent Sarkara', accusing the then BJP government of collecting a commission of 40 per cent on public works and exorbitant bribes in posting and recruitments.

They had also put out posters of 'PayCM' with a QR code showing the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the middle of it. Scanning the QR code would redirect to a web page developed by the Congress which had contents accusing rampant corruption prevailing in the state under the BJP rule.

The BJP, in its complaint, accused the Congress of running a defamatory campaign against the then BJP government.