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Karnataka High Court Stays Proceedings Against Deputy CM DK Shivakumar In Defamation Case Filed By State BJP Unit
Sparsh Upadhyay
4 July 2025 11:38 AM IST
In an interim order passed today, the Karnataka High Court stayed the trial court proceedings against State Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a criminal defamation case filed by the State BJP unit. The same relief was also extended to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). A bench of Justice SR Krishna Kumar issued notice to the respondent, returnable on July 29. Notably, in...
In an interim order passed today, the Karnataka High Court stayed the trial court proceedings against State Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in a criminal defamation case filed by the State BJP unit. The same relief was also extended to the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
A bench of Justice SR Krishna Kumar issued notice to the respondent, returnable on July 29. Notably, in the same case, the High Court had earlier stayed the trial against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in January this year.
Senior Advocate K Shashi Kiran Shetty and Advocate Surya Mukundaraj appeared for Shivakumar. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) was represented by Advocates S A Ahamed and Sanjay B Yadav.
The complaint by the state BJP Unit is primarily against “Corruption Rate card” advertisements issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee in local newspapers and 'false campaigning' by Congress ahead of the 2023 state assembly elections.
It is the case of the State BJP Unit that the advertisements damaged the BJP's image, as they claimed certain 'rates' and 'commissions' are charged by the BJP for appointment and transfer to various positions in government departments. BJP claims it to be false and based on the "fanciful imagination" of the accused.
BJP claims that the use of the word “trouble engine Sarkar” in the alleged advertisements by the accused in the place of the widely popular usage “double engine Sarkar” showed an intention to malign the name and reputation of the BJP and to affect its chances in the elections.
Importantly, it is the specific case of the BJP that the advertisements were issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress president through DK Shivakumar, in his capacity as its president, and by Siddaramaiah, as the then Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, and that Gandhi had put up those dvertisements on his X (formerly Twitter) account.