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Bhiwandi court postpones hearing in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi to March 22
The hearing in the case filed against Rahul Gandhi by RSS was supposed to begin on a day-to-day basis; it was, however, adjourned to March 22 after the Bhiwandi court refused the request of complainant Rajesh Kunthe’s lawyer to produce another witness; the court directed that Kunthe himself would be questioned as the first witness
The Bhiwandi court in Thane has postponed the hearing in the defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to March 22.
The hearing in the case filed against him by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was supposed to begin on a day-to-day basis. It was, however, adjourned to March 22 after the court refused the request of complainant Rajesh Kunthe’s lawyer to produce another witness. The court directed that Kunthe himself would be questioned as the first witness.
On Monday, the complainant’s lawyer gave an application to allow them to produce another notary witness from Delhi. Although the court rejected the request, it said that the complainant, who is first witness himself, will be questioned first in the matter and the other witnesses will follow after that.
According to defence lawyer Narayan Iyer, “The complainant should be the first person for questioning and as per the court order, on the next date, the complainant questioning should start in this case.”
Earlier, the complainant’s lawyers requested for further dates on the ground that they had filed a writ in court to authenticate the video of the controversial speech. The lower court and the High Court rejected the writ claiming that the onus to prove the authentication is on the complainant. The complainant has appealed to the Supreme Court and is awaiting judgement.
Gandhi, in one of his speeches in 2014, had blamed RSS responsible for the death of Mahatma Gandhi following which the defamation suit was filed by RSS in Bhiwandi court. The court had framed charges against Gandhi in 2018.
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