Rahul Gandhi defamation case: All you need to know about today's hearing

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi landed in Bengaluru on Friday morning to appear before a special court in a defamation case lodged against him during the Karnataka Assembly elections last year. Here's everything you need to know about the case.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Bengaluru on Friday morning in response to a summons issued by a court in relation to a defamation case filed by the BJP's Karnataka unit.

The Congress leader, who was received by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar at the airport, is slated to appear before the special court later at 10:30 am, following which Rahul is slated to meet newly-elected MPs, as well as defeated candidates.

What is the case about?

The defamation case, lodged by the state BJP unit, pertains to the Congress' 'PayCM' campaign ahead of the Karnataka polls last year, wherein the grand old party released 'rate cards' of bribes required to land government jobs under the erstwhile Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in the state. Rahul had retweeted some of these posts.

The BJP complaint, lodged in June 2023, alleged that by releasing these ads, the Congress had made false and irresponsible claims.

Apart from Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar were also named as parties to the lawsuit.

What happened in previous hearings?

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were granted bail by the special court on June 1 after they appeared before it and appealed for exemptions from personal appearances.

Rahul, however, skipped the June 1 hearing—his second no-show in the case—prompting judge K N Shivakumar to fix June 7 as the date for a personal appearance, without fail.

What is being said?

Ahead of Rahul's hearing on June 7, Dy CM Shivakumar dubbed the case 'false'.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Shivakumar said, "BJP has filed a false, bogus case against me, CM Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi and summons have been issued. In order to respect the court, Rahul Gandhi will attend the court today..."