Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told the Karnataka High Court on Thursday that there was no material linking him to the party’s “Corruption Rate Card” advertisement or related social media posts, which the Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged are defamatory, Live Law reported.
The advertisement was part of the Congress campaign in the run-up to the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election.
The court was hearing Gandhi’s plea seeking to quash the criminal defamation case filed by the BJP.
The Hindutva party had objected to the Congress’ allegations that the BJP government, which was in power from 2019 to 2023, was charging a 40% commission or bribes from contractors for undertaking public works.
The BJP alleged that the Congress was spreading false claims against its members, including the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Appearing for Gandhi, advocate Shashi Kiran Shetty argued that the complaint disclosed no publication or post attributable to the Congress leader.
“Even assuming there is some publication by someone else, it concerns the government, not the complainant [BJP],” Live Law quoted Shetty as saying. “The government itself did not initiate any action.”
He added that Gandhi held no party post at the time and there was no evidence showing his involvement in authorising the advertisement.
Opposing the plea, advocate Vinod Kumar M, appearing for the BJP, maintained that the advertisement was clearly directed at the party, which ruled Karnataka at the time. The references to “40% sarkara”, he argued, were aimed at the BJP, giving it the right to bring the complaint despite not being named explicitly.
Continuing the interim protection granted earlier, the High Court listed the matter for further hearing on December 18.
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