A bench, headed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna, passed the order while looking into the quash petition filed by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

The matter has been adjourned till February 20.

Rahul Gandhi was given bail in the case by the Magistrate Court in June 2024.

The BJP has also made Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar parties in the case.

Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had appeared before the court regarding the matter.

The defamation suit filed by BJP General Secretary Keshav Prasad alleges that the Congress engaged in propaganda by publishing full-page advertisements accusing the then BJP government of charging a 40 per cent commission, labelling it as a "40 per cent government."

The Congress also created posters and advertisements displaying a rate card allegedly set by the then BJP government for various posts.

The petitioner claimed that the charges were baseless, defamatory and prejudiced.

The advertisement spoke about alleged scams in PSI recruitment, Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The grand old party had also run a campaign against former CM Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government and claimed that during his regime, Rs 1.50 lakh crore were "looted". The BJP had also filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in this regard.

Initially, the allegations were made in speeches and soon the Congress took up social media campaigns and started putting up posters across the state.

Earlier, the Karnataka High Court dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Petition against Gandhi in connection with issuing a derogatory statement against Prajwal Revanna, the jailed former MP and grandson of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda.

After dismissing the case on October 21, 2024, the High Court bench, headed by Justice N. V. Anjaria and Justice K. V. Arvind, also slapped a Rs 25,000 fine on the petitioner.

The All India Dalit Action Committee had filed a petition against Rahul Gandhi.

Courtesy Media Group: IANS