A Bengaluru court on Saturday granted bail to Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge and Youth Congress leader Mohammed Nalapad in a criminal defamation complaint alleging that they made defamatory remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its members.
XLII Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Sandeep Patil allowed the bail applications filed by Kharge and Nalapad, after noting that the offence alleged against them were bailable in nature.
“The offence alleged against the accused No.1 (Kharge) and 3 (Nalapad) is under Section 356 of BNS which is bailable in nature. Hence, the bail applications filed under Section 478 of BNSS and applications filed under Section 490 of BNSS filed on behalf of accused No.1 and 3 are allowed.”
As conditions for bail, the court directed both accused to execute a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and furnish cash security of ₹10,000 each.
The criminal defamation complaint was filed by Bengaluru resident A Tejas, an RSS worker. He alleged that Kharge and Nalapad made a series of defamatory statements targeting the RSS and its members in October 2025.
Kharge had, on October 4, 2025, written to the Karnataka government urging it to prevent the RSS from using government playgrounds, schools and colleges for its activities
Tejas' complaint alleged that this letter was deliberately released to the media and subsequently shared on Kharge's social media accounts with an intention to defame the RSS.
The complaint also referred to social media posts allegedly made by Kharge on October 13 and 14, 2025.
One of the posts allegedly stated that “Never befriend an RSS member. Not only friend, even if it is your family... They are the real abusers.”
Another post allegedly claimed that the RSS had not spared Mahatma Gandhi or BR Ambedkar.
The complaint alleged that the remarks portrayed RSS members as sexual predators and extremists and thereby lowered the reputation of the organisation and its members.
The complaint also relied on statements allegedly made by Congress leader Mohammed Nalapad during a media interaction.
Nalapad was alleged to have remarked that RSS members “have nothing beneath their shorts.”
The complainant described the statement as obscene, insulting and intended to ridicule members of the organisation.
The complainant further contended that the accused had neither withdrawn the statements nor tendered an apology. The continued availability of such statements online aggravated the alleged harm, the complainant said.
The complaint also referred to social media posts allegedly made by former minister Dinesh Gundu Rao in support of Kharge and questioning the RSS in the context of the murders of rationalists and journalist Gauri Lankesh, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi.
However, the court did not find sufficient grounds to proceed against Rao and dropped the defamation proceedings against him.
Kharge and Nalapad were present in court along with their counsel on Saturday. After the substance of the accusation against them was read over and explained to them, both of them denied the allegations and sought trial.
The court thereafter posted the matter for recording evidence that is to be presented by the complainant. The matter is scheduled to be heard next on September 19, 2026.
Advocates Ashwin Chikkamath and Paritosh Siddapurmath appeared for Priyank Kharge. Advocates Praveen Kamath and Shathabish Shivanna represented Nalapad.
Advocates Venkatesh Dalwai and Girish Bharadwaj appeared for the complainant.