Maharashtra court: Rahul Gandhi indefinitely exempted from appearing in defamation lawsuit

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, has been permanently exempted from appearing before a court in Maharashtra’s Thane district in connection with a defamation lawsuit brought by a member of the Rashtriya Sawyamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Gandhi’s plea was submitted through his attorney Narayan Iyer, and Bhiwandi First Class Judicial Magistrate C Wadikar noted that the Congressman merits a lifetime exemption.

The court also scheduled 3 June as the date for the depositions in the defamation case Rajesh Kunte, a local RSS worker, filed.

The Bhiwandi magistrate’s court received a private complaint from Kunte in 2014 after he watched Gandhi’s speech in which he reportedly blamed the RSS for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. Kunte argued this statement slandered the character of the RSS.

In June 2018, Gandhi appeared in court and entered a not guilty plea.

“Accused Rahul Gandhi is hereby exempted from appearance in the court till the further order passed by the court subject to following conditions,” according to the report.

Rahul Gandhi, who was recently removed from office after being found guilty of defamation by a Surat court, had requested last year to be excused from appearing in court in Bhiwandi on the grounds that he was a resident of Delhi, a member of the Lok Sabha, and required to frequently travel to his constituency (Wayanad), attend party events, and visit constituents. Gandhi had asked to be permitted to have a lawyer defend him in the hearing whenever it was necessary..

Gandhi shouldn’t be granted an exception in this case, according to Kunte’s new argument, as he is no longer a member of parliament.

A criminal defamation lawsuit brought against Gandhi in 2019 after his comments on “why all thieves have Modi surname” resulted in a two-year prison sentence on 23 March by the Surat court. In order to give him time to file an appeal with a higher court, the judge also granted him bail and postponed the punishment for 30 days. He lost his status as a Lok Sabha member the next day.