New Delhi: Former Congress President and MP Rahul Gandhi is expected to appear on June 7 before a special magistrate's court hearing cases involving elected representatives in Karnataka in connection with a defamation case filed by the BJP against publication of advertisements labelling saffron party as corrupt during the 2023 assembly polls. 

The court had already directed the Congress leader for his physical appearance in the case. According to reports, Rahul Gandhi is the fourth accused in the case after Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress president DK Shivakumar.  

The court had already granted bail to Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and sought for the physical appearance of Rahul Gandhi tomorrow.

The Karnataka BJP unit has sought an issuance of a non-bailable warrant against Rahul Gandhi after he didn't appear on June 1 even as the Congress argued Gandhi was not linked to the publication of advertisements by the party. 

Exempting his non-appearance on June 1, the court stated that he must be present on June 7. “The application filed by Accused No 4 is allowed and his appearance for today is dispensed with. It is made clear that the accused No.4 shall appear before this court on the next date of hearing without fail,” the court said. 

Rahul Gandhi Summoned: Know the Case

The defamation case was taken up after Karnataka BJP General Secretary S Keshava Prasad on May 8, 2023, alleged that Congress leaders called the then state BJP government corrupt through advertisement in different mediums. 

In the complaint, Prasad alleged the Congress had defamed the BJP by claiming that the party leadership had fixed prices for various postings in the state like Rs 2,500 crore for the CM’s post and Rs 500 crore for a minister’s post leading to corruption in governance.

Prasad claimed that Congress also placed advertisements in newspapers on May 5, 2023, which alleged commissions to the tune of 75 per cent in Covid kit tender deals, 40 per cent for PWD tenders, 30 per cent for grants to religious organisations and other such deals.