Anything and everything cannot be said against the opposition during the election campaign in the garb of opposition which is the core of democracy: Karnataka High Court

View of Karnataka High Court. | Photo Credit: File photo

Observing that while there is no doubt that dissent is the backbone of democracy, the Karnataka High Court has said that it does not mean that “the maker of the statement cannot escape any statement in his clothing made during the meeting. in an election rally or a post-election meeting.”

“In the guise of disagreement is the core of democracy, statements must not insult the character of any person unless proven by facts,” said the court.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna made this observation while dismissing the petition of BJP MP V. Sunil Kumar, in which he had challenged the defamation suit filed against him by Pramod Muthalik, the Sri Rama Sene chief.

In the digital age

“In this digital age, whatever is spoken does not stay with the person speaking it. It’s spreading fast. Making a speech in front of people is a speech directed at a person that will be known by everyone,” the court noted.

Although it refused to interfere with the defamation process initiated by Mr. Muthalik opposing Mr. Kumar for making defamatory statements while campaigning for the elections held in the Karkala Assembly District, the court said that ‘a case is being filed’ as the content of Mr. Kumar prima facie falls under the law of defamation.

Increase in requests

Recently, the court revealed that there are a number of applications to defame the leaders of different political parties arguing with each other and it has verbally observed that politicians these days seem to be throwing mud at each other.