Mumbai: HC turns down Rahul Gandhi’s plea to quash defamation case

The Bombay high court on Tuesday dismissed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s plea to quash the defamation case against him, filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member.

The Bombay HC on Tuesday dismissed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s plea to quash the defamation case against him, filed by a RSS member.

Rahul may also have to appear before a magistrate court at Bhiwandi, as justice ML Tahaliyani dismissed the Congress leader’s petition and rejected the plea to exempt him from personal appearance. The defamation case against Rahul was filed by Rajesh Kunte, the secretary of RSS’ Bhiwandi tehsil unit, after the Congress leader allegedly linked the RSS to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, during an election rally speech at Sonale in March last year.

Kunte said Rahul had made false allegations against the RSS, with “mala fide motive” to harm its reputation. Kunte said that while speaking at a public rally, Rahul “indirectly suggested” that RSS workers had killed Mahatma Gandhi, and that Sardar Patel had confirmed this fact.

Acting on Kunte’s complaint, the court had summoned Rahul to face trial for defamation in July 2014. Rahul sought quashing of the complaint, saying it was entirely based on the complainant’s opinion and not supported by material of any kind.