The Karnataka High Court Friday granted a stay order to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in a defamation case filed by the BJP concerning posters put up in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly elections.
Last week, the high court bench comprising Justice S R Krishna Kumar had also granted a similar interim stay order in favour of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in the case.
Earlier this year, in January, a bench consisting of Justice M Nagaprasanna had granted a stay to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is also a co-accused in the defamation case.
The posters in question were part of the Congress’s ‘PayCM ad campaign’. The posters included QR codes, pictures of the then Karnataka BJP CM Basavaraj Bommai, and ‘rate cards’ and slogans referring to ‘40 per cent corruption’.
At the time, Bommai had referred to the campaign as a systematic ploy “to not only tarnish the state’s image but also of my image.” Instructions were given to officials to immediately book a case.
Rahul Gandhi’s petition had argued that the advertisements amounted to a criticism of the BJP government, which was not the same as defamation. It was also argued that the BJP, as a private body, could not file a defamation complaint against public servants like MPs and MLAs, as this had to be done by the State.
The high court had earlier acquitted two Congress workers who were accused of damaging public property by putting up the posters.