A city court on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by the BJP.

The 42nd additional metropolitan magistrate, K.N. Shivakumar, granted bail to Rahul after he appeared before the court. The case has been posted to June 30 for further hearing.

Former MP D.K. Suresh posted a surety with his property worth Rs 75 lakh on behalf of Rahul.

Rahul was among those accused in the case by BJP leader Keshav Prasad over allegedly defamatory advertisements ahead of last year’s Karnataka Assembly elections, accusing the then BJP government of corruption.

In the advertisements carried by almost all local newspapers, the Congress had accused the BJP government of taking 40 per cent commission from contractors to clear their bills for jobs undertaken.

The advertisements featured a "Corruption Rate Card" citing rates of bribe, an allegation the BJP vehemently denied.

The anti-corruption campaign was based on allegations raised by a contractors’ association about ministers in the BJP government demanding 40 per cent commission on every contract.

The court had on June 1 granted bail to chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister and state Congress president D.K. Shivakumar. But the court on the same day directed Rahul to appear without fail.

Rahul’s counsel had sought exemption since he was busy participating in a meeting of the INDIA bloc in Delhi. The court allowed the plea but directed Rahul to appear without fail on June 7.

After arriving from Delhi on Friday morning, Rahul appeared before the court at 10.30am under heavy security.

It was in another case that has origins in Karnataka that Rahul got disqualified from the Lok Sabha.

In a speech in Kolar near Bangalore during the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he had asked how all thieves have the same surname and had named Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Surat court had in March 2023 convicted him to the maximum two years in jail in a criminal defamation case. The Lok Sabha secretariat had then disqualified Rahul, triggering nationwide protests. His Lok Sabha membership was restored in August following a directive from the Supreme Court.