Rahul Gandhi gets bail in defamation case filed by BJP

Rahul Gandhi gets bail in defamation case filed by BJP

Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was granted bail on Friday (June 7) by a Bengaluru court in connection with a case filed by the BJP's Karnataka unit for issuing “defamatory" advertisements in mainstream newspapers.

The advertisement preceding the Assembly polls last year accused the former BJP government in the state of engaging in widespread corruption during its tenure from 2019 to 2023.

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The court had on June 1 granted bail to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, after they appeared before it in connection with the defamation case.

Judge K N Shivakumar had earlier directed Rahul Gandhi to appear before the court on Friday (June 7) without fail.

It may be recalled here, in February, the Congress leader attended court proceedings related to the defamation case and was granted bail.

BJP leader Vijay Mishra had lodged the complaint against Rahul Gandhi. Last December, a warrant was issued against Gandhi, prompting him to postpone his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Amethi and appear in court on February 20, where he got bail.

The complaint arose from statements made by Gandhi during a press conference in Bengaluru in May 2018, amidst the Karnataka elections. Gandhi's remarks addressed the BJP's assertion of maintaining integrity in politics despite having a party president (Amit Shah) who faced accusations in a murder case.

Four years before Gandhi's remarks, Amit Shah was acquitted by a special CBI court in Mumbai in connection with a 2005 fake encounter case during his tenure as Minister of State for Home in Gujarat.

(With inputs from agencies)