Rahul Gandhi Gets Relief In RSS Defamation Case As Bombay HC Scraps Maharashtra Court Order

The Bombay HC has granted relief to Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case by a RSS worker.

In a relief to Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, the Bombay High Court on Friday scraped a Bhiwandi court order allowing certain additional documents as evidence in the criminal defamation case filed against the former Congress chief by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, as reported by the Bar and Bench.

The order in the case against the former Congress chief was passed by Justice Prithviraj K. Chavan. According to Bar and Bench, Gandhi had filed a plea alleging that the trial court permitted RSS functionary Rajesh Kunte to “belatedly” produce certain documents.

On June 3, a Bhiwandi Magistrate Court in Thane took on record certain documents submitted by the RSS functionary, who is the complainant in the case against the Raebareli MP. The Magistrate Court accepted the transcript of the allegedly defamatory statement as evidence, which served as the basis for the defamation lawsuit

It was challenged by Gandhi before the High Court on the ground that the Magistrate's order was in violation of an order of a single judge of the High Court in another petition filed by Kunte pertaining to the same defamation complaint, as reported by the Bar and Bench.

In 2021, single-judge Justice Revati Mohite Dere dismissed a petition filed by the RSS functionary in which he sought admission or denial of the allegedly defamatory speech made by the senior Congress leader.

Justice Dere had reasoned that an accused person could not be compelled to admit or deny annexures to the said petition, Bar and Bench reported.

In his present petition, Rahul Gandhi claimed that despite the 2021 order of the High Court, the Magistrate proceeded to take on record the same documents, which would compel him to either admit or deny the documents.

The case came to light in 2014 when Kunte accused the Congress leader of making defamatory statements in a speech alleging that the Hindu organisation RSS was responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Kunte filed a complaint before the Bhiwandi magistrate in 2014.

Following the complaint, the magistrate took cognisance and summoned Gandhi for an appearance before the court. In 2014, Gandhi challenged summons against him in the High Court. He sought the quashing of the criminal proceedings. In this petition, Gandhi annexed a transcript of the allegedly defamatory speech.

Even though Gandhi's petition was dismissed by the High Court, Kunte contended before the magistrate that by annexing a copy of his speech in the petition, the senior Congress leader unambiguously owned up to the speech, as reported by Bar and Bench.

The Magistrate Court, however, rejected this application, which Kunte challenged before the HC. In 2021, the HC dismissed this petition, stating that merely because a document of the RSS functionary was annexed to Gandhi’s petition, it would not make such a document a `public document’ thus giving a complete go-by to the Kunte from proving the same as per the law.

On June 3, 2023, when the court was examining Kunte, the Magistrate took on record the same 2014 writ petition, including the annexures, despite vehement opposition by Gandhi, prompting him to move to the High Court.