Rahul to face trial in Bhiwandi for 2014 RSS-Gandhi remarks

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will have to stand trial for blaming the RSS for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination after the Supreme Court on Thursday

NEW DELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will have to stand trial for blaming the RSS for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination after the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to quash a defamation case against him.

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Rahul, who withdrew his plea for dismissing the case on being refused relief, will now be tried in a Bhiwandi trial court in Maharashtra, where a complaint was filed against him by a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh activist in 2014.

“I stand by each and every word. I will never take my words back. I stood by it yesterday, I stand by it today and I will stand by it in future. I am ready to go to trial,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Rahul, said.

A bench headed by justice Dipak Misra also refused to exempt Rahul from appearing in person. The Bhiwandi court will now fix the date of hearing.

Even Nathuram Godse’s brother said the RSS men killed Mahatma Gandhi, Sibal said. Godse shot dead the Mahatma in Delhi on January 30, 1948.

The RSS questioned Rahul’s alleged reluctance to face trial. “Is he scared to face truth? He keeps on taking U-turns,” All India Prachar Pramukh of RSS Manmohan Vaidya tweeted.

Addressing a poll rally in Bhiwandi in the 2014 election campaign, Rahul said “RSS men shot Gandhiji”, prompting Rajesh Kunte to file a complaint.

Rahul told the SC last month that he didn’t blame the RSS as an institution for the assassination, inviting criticism for his “U-turn”.

A few days later, Rahul said he stood by every word and condemned the RSS’s “hateful and divisive agenda”.

Appearing for Kunte, senior advocate UR Lalit told the court the Congress maligned the RSS every time elections were called.