New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an appeal of Karnataka Minister Shivananda S Patil challenging a Karnataka High Court order that had quashed a defamation case against BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal.
“I always tell you all that fight political battles outside the court and not here,” Chief Justice B R Gavai, who was sitting on the bench with Justice K Vinod Chandran, said at the outset.
The lawyer assailed the Karnataka High Court order of September 28, 2024 and said it had quashed the defamation case of Yatnal owing to procedure not being followed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
“He has been a sitting cabinet rank minister,” the lawyer said.
“So what ? ..Dismissed with a cost of Rs 25,000,” the CJI said and later raised the cost up to Rs one crore.
The bench later waived the cost and permitted withdrawal of the appeal after the lawyer submitted so.
The dispute arose from alleged defamatory statements made by Yatnal during a rally ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.
Patil had initiated criminal defamation proceedings under Section 223 of the BNSS arguing that the remarks damaged his reputation. However, the high court, while allowing Yatnal’s petition, found procedural lapses in the way the magistrate took cognisance of the complaint.
The high court had ruled that the magistrate failed to properly follow the BNSS provisions, which require that before taking cognisance, the magistrate must examine the complainant and witnesses under oath and give the accused an opportunity to be heard by issuing a notice.
It concluded that the magistrate had jumped the procedural stages and quashed the defamation case accordingly.