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SC stays defamation trial against Rahul in 2018 case
The complaint said that the comments referring to Shah as a “man accused of murder“ was not only false but an insult to all workers, supporters and leaders of the party dedicated to the country
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed defamation proceedings against Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 case pending before a Jharkhand court on his comments against the then BJP president Amit Shah referring to him as a “murder accused”.
A bench headed by justice Vikram Nath issued notice on the appeal filed by Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, challenging the order of the Jharkhand high court in February 2024 refusing to quash the defamation case. Granting four weeks to the state and the private complainant BJP leader Navin Jha to file responses, the bench, also comprising justice Sandeep Mehta said, “Till further orders, further proceedings before the trial court shall remain stayed.”
The statement was made by Gandhi at a Congress plenary session in March 2018. He said, “The people of this country will accept a lying Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership drunk with power because they know that, what the Bhartiya Janata Party is designed for. They will, accept a man accused of murder as the president of BJP but the people will never accept the same in the Congress Party”. At the time, Shah was the BJP president.
The complaint said that the comments referring to Shah as a “man accused of murder“ was not only false but an insult to all workers, supporters and leaders of the party dedicated to the country.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and RS Cheema appearing for Gandhi, informed the court that the settled law in defamation cases require that the person aggrieved should alleged defamation and it cannot be done by a proxy.
“If you are not a person aggrieved, you cannot have a proxy to file a complaint. There are seven judgments to this effect,” said Singhvi, while arguing the appeal filed by Gandhi. The complainant Jha was represented by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani who sought time for a reply.
The bench issued notice to Jha and the state while posting the matter after four weeks.
Gandhi, in his petition filed through advocate S Prasanna said, “The complaint (Jha) ambiguously describes himself as a worker/supporter and does not aver that he is an official member of the party, capable of maintaining a defamation complaint in law. Moreover, there is no evidence led to establish his membership even subsequent to the complaint.”
It was further submitted that the statements do not fall within the ambit of Section 499 IPC (defamation), as they constitute “fair political comment” which is a constitutionally protected speech. The Rae Bareli MP argued before the HC that his statements merely reflected “historical facts” as the then BJP president Amit Shah “had indeed faced charges of murder.”
The Jharkhand high court last year refused to interfere with a non-bailable warrant issued by the MP/MLA court in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa court. The warrant was issued on the complaint filed by Jha claiming that the remarks made by Gandhi against then BJP president Amit Shah was objectionable and derogatory.
The HC found the comments made by the Congress leader and present Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as “prima facie defamatory” .
