In a relief for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Bombay High Court quashed a magistrate’s order that allowed an RSS worker to submit new documents in an ongoing criminal defamation case.
Case Insights
The case was initiated in 2014 by RSS worker Rajesh Kunte, who claimed that Gandhi had made defamatory statements accusing the right-wing group of being responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
In 2023, the Bhiwandi magistrate court in Thane district permitted Kunte to submit a transcript of Gandhi’s speech, which was part of a 2014 petition Gandhi had filed to quash the summons issued to him. Kunte argued that by including the transcript in his petition, Gandhi had “unambiguously owned up to the speech and its contents.”
Gandhi challenged the magistrate’s decision in the Bombay High Court. On Friday, Justice Prithviraj Chavan ruled in Gandhi’s favor.
Court’s Observation
The court stated, “The petition is allowed. Impugned order and consequent exhibition of documents are quashed and set aside. The magistrate court is directed to proceed with the trial regarding the exhibit in accordance with the observations made in the order.”
Justice Chavan also instructed the magistrate to expedite the trial and urged both parties to cooperate. The documents Kunte submitted included parts of Gandhi’s 2014 petition, a transcript of the alleged speech, and a CD containing the purported live telecast of the speech.
Gandhi argued in his plea that a different bench of the high court had, in 2021, disallowed Kunte from submitting any new documents. Despite this, the magistrate had permitted the submission of additional documents, which Gandhi contended was “completely illegal and prejudicial.”
