The Karnataka High Court on Friday delivered an interim order staying trial court proceedings into a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by the State BJP. Counsel for Gandhi, senior advocate Shashi Kiran Shetty, told Justice M Nagaprasanna that this was the first has been taken up. Pursuant to this plea the court returned the order, emergent notice to the respondent returnable by February 20. As the final interim order therefore in terms of the provisions of rules 7(3) and 12 of the rules, there shall be a continuation of the stay of further proceedings. The next hear is set for February 20. In the corruption rate card advertisements for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee it accused BJP leaders of demanding commissions for appointments and transfers. The advertisement before the assembly polls had alleged that the BJP government in the state during 2019-2023 was involved in huge graft. The BJP has refuted all these assertions as fallacious and baseless. It also had problematic with the expression “trouble engine Sarkar”, which the Congress called was purposely created out of the well-known “double engine Sarkar” with the purpose of causing them electoral political damage. Gandhi reached the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on June 1, 2024 after being produced by the court. He was later released by the magistrate court on bails early June last year. In the same case, bail was granted to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.