Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday sent a defamation notice to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and the party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, after the BJP levelled corruption charges against him, ANI reported. The chief minister has threatened them with a Rs 100-crore defamation suit if they do not publicly apologise to him.
During a rally in Bengaluru in February, Modi had referred to the Congress government in Karnataka as “10% government”, as 10% commission was allegedly being demanded for all work, the notice claimed. Earlier this month, Modi had accused the government of having developed “ease of committing murder”, and not the ease of doing business, it added.
The notice further claimed that the BJP had published advertisements both in electronic, digital and print media titled “Sidda Sarkara”, containing false information and casting aspersions on the character of Siddaramaiah.
“These allegations are completely false, fabricated and do not have an iota of truth and the same have been made with a malicious intent to defame my client [Siddaramaiah] and destroy his reputation in the eyes of public at large,” the notice read.
The notice said the accused had committed libel and offences under Sections 499, 500, 501 and 502 (sections for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.
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