'40% commission' charge: Court grants bail to Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar in defamation case

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar on Saturday appeared before a special court in a defamation suit filed by the BJP. Both were granted bail.

The private defamation suit, which also named Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, was filed by Keshav Prasad, MLC and general secretary of the BJP.

The complaint was about advertisements issued by the state Congress in newspapers last year about 'Corruption Rate Cards' during the erstwhile BJP government in the state, including the allegation of a '40 per cent commission'. The complainant alleged that these advertisements defamed the BJP.

Meanwhile, the counsel for Rahul Gandhi moved an application seeking exemption from appearance for his client. When the complainant objected to the application, the special court judge asked the counsel appearing for Rahul Gandhi if a second consecutive exemption application could be allowed. The court is yet to pass orders on the exemption application.