A Bengaluru court has issued summons to Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge and Youth Congress leader Mohammed Haris Nalapad over their alleged remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), directing them to appear on July 21.
Taking cognisance of a private criminal complaint against the Congress leaders, XLII Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bengaluru City Sandeep Patil held on June 27 that a prima facie case was made out for the offence of criminal defamation punishable under Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
The court declined to proceed against former Karnataka minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, who had also been arrayed as an accused. The proceedings against him were dropped at the stage of cognisance after the court found no sufficient grounds to continue the prosecution against him.
The complaint was filed by Bengaluru resident and RSS worker A Tejas, who alleged that the accused made a series of false, malicious and defamatory statements against the RSS and its members during October 2025 with the intention of lowering the organisation’s reputation and public standing.
According to the complaint, Kharge, while serving as a Cabinet Minister, addressed a letter to the Karnataka government on October 4, 2025, requesting that the RSS be prevented from conducting its activities in government schools, colleges and playgrounds. The complainant alleged that the letter was deliberately circulated to the media and published on Kharge’s social media platforms to defame the organisation.
The complaint further referred to social media posts allegedly published by Kharge on October 13 and 14, 2025. It was alleged that one of the posts advised people not to associate with RSS members, including within their own families, and portrayed them as abusers.
Another post allegedly suggested that the RSS had not even spared Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar. The complainant contended that these statements falsely portrayed RSS members as sexual predators and extremists, thereby causing serious reputational harm to the organisation and its volunteers.
The complaint also relied upon statements allegedly made by Mohammed Nalapad during a media interaction, in which he was stated to have made an obscene and derogatory remark ridiculing RSS members. According to the complainant, the statement was intended to insult and bring the organisation into public disrepute.
It was further alleged that none of the accused withdrew the impugned statements or issued any public apology despite the alleged defamatory content continuing to remain accessible on social media platforms, thereby aggravating the injury caused to the reputation of the RSS and its members.
With regard to Dinesh Gundu Rao, the complaint relied upon his social media posts expressing support for Kharge and questioning the RSS in connection with the murders of journalist Gauri Lankesh, rationalist Govind Pansare and scholar MM Kalburgi. However, the court found that the material placed on record did not disclose sufficient grounds to proceed against him and accordingly dropped the proceedings.
Taking cognisance of the complaint under Section 356 of BNS, the Court directed that the matter be registered as a criminal case and issued summons to Kharge and Nalapad. Both accused have been directed to appear before the court on July 21 for further proceedings.
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