BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash a Rs 50 crore civil defamation suit filed by minister Bairathi Suresh against BJP MLC H Vishwanath in connection with allegations made during the MUDA site allotment controversy.
Vishwanath had approached the high court seeking quashing of the defamation proceedings initiated against him by Suresh. However, the court declined to interfere with the civil suit pending before a lower court.
The order means that the defamation proceedings filed by Suresh can continue before the civil court.
MUDA allegations triggered legal battle
The legal dispute stems from the controversy over site allotments by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
During the controversy, Vishwanath had levelled serious corruption allegations against Suresh, who was then the urban development minister. He had alleged that hundreds of sites were illegally allotted even after Suresh visited the MUDA office.
Suresh, however, termed the allegations baseless and said the repeated accusations had damaged his reputation. He subsequently filed a civil defamation suit before a Bengaluru court, seeking Rs 50 crore in damages from Vishwanath. Vishwanath later challenged the proceedings before the high court and sought their cancellation.
‘I’ll fight the case myself,’ Vishwanath had said
After receiving notice in the defamation case earlier, Vishwanath had said he was prepared to defend himself in court. “I am also a law student. I will personally face this case in court,” he had said.
With the high court now refusing to quash the civil defamation proceedings, the legal battle between Suresh and Vishwanath over the allegations made during the MUDA controversy is set to continue before the lower court.