Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is facing a new defamation case just days after being sentenced to two years in prison by a Surat Court in Gujarat.
On Friday, a complaint was filed by RSS volunteer Kamal Bhadoria in a Haridwar court regarding remarks made by the former MP during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. During a speech in January, Gandhi referred to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) as “21st century Kauravas.”
Gandhi is accused with criminal defamation under sections 499 and 500 of the IPC. The case will be heard in court on April 12.
The case comes just days after Gandhi’s conviction and disqualification from the Lok Sabha. The Congress politician was sentenced in a criminal defamation case filed against him in 2019 for his remarks about “why all thieves have Modi surname.” He was also summoned recently by a Bihar special court in connection with a separate criminal defamation case filed by Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.
Gandhi is facing a third defamation case in Maharashtra’s Thane for a 2014 speech in which he had allegedly accused the RSS of assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. The case was filed by an RSS activist, and the complainant recently opposed Gandhi’s application for permanent exemption from appearing in court.
Many BJP and Shiv Sena officials, including Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, have called for the ousted MP to be ‘punished’ for his remarks against VD Savarkar in recent days.
Gandhi was allowed 30 days to appeal his conviction before his two-year sentence became effective. While the Congress has yet to take action, it has repeatedly stated that its legal team is working on it.
“Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha was the darkest day in Indian democracy’s history. The trial court’s decision contains a number of legal issues, which will be addressed by our legal team at the appropriate platform,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated recently.
The issue, one of several squabbles between the Congress party and the governing BJP, has, however, served to united a number of opposition parties. Many of them accuse the Centre of attempting to divert focus away from the Adani-Hindenburg dispute.
