Siddaramaiah files Rs 100-cr defamation suit against PM Modi, Amit Shah

Threatening to file an Rs 100-crore defamation suit against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, and the party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday sent a legal notice seeking a public apology for allegedly making false and defamatory statements against him.

With a close and bitter contest taking place between the Congress and BJP in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the notice comes days ahead of the May 12 elections.

The notice accused the BJP of having published allegedly defamatory advertisements in media outlets and that PM Modi made several allegedly defamatory against Siddaramaiah in his election campaign referring to the Karnataka government as a ’10% commission government’.

Drafted by lawyer and Congress’s member of legislative council VS Ugrappa, the notice listed other instances when different allegations were made against Siddaramaiah by Modi, including the dig that the state government was a “Seedha Rupaiya sarkar” (straight money-minded government).

The notice read, “The BJP has published several political advertisements in Kannada and English newspapers, television channels and on the social media, which are defamatory against Siddaramaiah.”

The notice called for an unconditional apology accusing the BJP leaders of having committed libel under sections 499, 500, 501 and 502 of the Indian Penal Code and if they fail to do so, the parties have to render to civil and criminal action and the payment of damages of Rs 100 crore.