Jharkhand HC Reserves Order In Defamation Case Against Rahul Gandhi Over 2018 Remarks On Amit Shah

The Jharkhand High Court has reserved its order in the defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his 2018 remarks against Amit Shah.

The Jharkhand High Court has reserved the order in the defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks against Amit Shah in 2018. As the arguments concluded in the court of Justice Ambujnath, both sides were instructed to file the synopsis of the arguments by tomorrow. The defamation case was filed by a local BJP leader after Rahul Gandhi allegedly made objectionable remarks against BJP leader and the then BJP's National president Amit Shah at a Congress party gathering in Chaibasa in 2018.

Navin Jha, a BJP member in Ranchi filed this case against Rahul Gandhi. Jha in his petition accused the Congress leader of maligning the image of BJP leader Amit Shah in a speech that Gandhi delivered in Chaibasa ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, reported PTI.

The complaint was filed on April 24 last year before the court of Ranchi Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate dismissed it. Thereafter, he filed a revision petition before the court which was allowed, and the matter was remanded back to the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate.

On the other hand, the Patna High Court has granted relief to Rahul Gandhi staying the order of a lower court till May 15, 2023, in the 'Modi surname' case. Rahul Gandhi appealed against an order asking him to appear in a Patna court over a case filed by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. Rahul’s counsel said that all lower court proceedings were stayed till May 15 as the matter is already under trial in Surat court. 

Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha in March after he was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat metropolitan magistrate's court in the 2019 case over his "why all thieves have Modi surname" remark. Later, the Surat sessions court declined to stay the conviction in the matter.

The former Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad had said "How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?" while addressing a rally in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, targetting PM Modi over his last name which he shares with fugitive businessman Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.

The case was filed by the BJP legislator Purnesh Modi.

If Gandhi fails to get his conviction reversed, his disqualification as an MP will stand and he will be barred from contesting elections for eight years. He has already vacated his government-allotted bungalow.