Bengaluru : An FIR lodged against former Karnataka chief ministers Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy on charges of sedition and defamation based on a lower court order.

The lower court directed the police to file a case against former Karnataka CMs HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Senior leaders DK Shivakumar, Parameshwara, Dinesh Gundu Rao and senior police officials have also been booked in the case. The FIR was registered on Wednesday.

The case has been filed against the Congress and JD(S) leaders in connection with their protest against Income Tax raids during the Lok Sabha elections.

The complaint was filed before the court after a person, identified as activist Mallikarjuna, alleged that then chief minister Kumaraswamy had leaked information about I-T raids on the premises of the JD(S) and Congress leaders even before the taxmen could conduct the raids.

Kumaraswamy, joined by his deputy Parameshwara, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, ministers in the coalition government, MPs and other legislators of then ruling parties had staged a protest in front of the I-T office on Queen’s Road on March 27, which he claimed was a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

In his complaint, he also stated that the leaders raised slogans against I-T officials saying they were “BJP agents”, which he stated amounted to obstruction of duty.