'Fight your political battles outside courts': SC declines to consider plea by Shivananda Patil against BJP leader

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by Karnataka Minister Shivananda S Patil against an order passed by the Karnataka High Court, quashing a defamation case against BJP MLA Basanagouda R Patil Yatnal.

A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran orally observed that the political battles should not be fought in the court.

“I always tell….fight political battles outside the court and not here," the CJI said.

The Minister’s counsel assailed the order passed by the High Court on September 28, 2024.

The counsel said that Yatnal has been a sitting cabinet rank minister. “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 counsel said the High Court had quashed the defamation case of Yatnal owing to the procedure not being followed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

The bench, however, waived the cost and permitted withdrawal of the appeal on the lawyer's request.

The matter is related to 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 allowed Yatnal's petition for quashing the proceedings, saying that there were procedural lapses in the way the magistrate took cognisance of the complaint.

The High Court said 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.