New Delhi. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has received a setback from the Bombay High Court in a criminal defamation case related to his derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court has rejected Rahul Gandhi's petition. The Congress MP had sought quashing of the criminal defamation complaint filed against him and the summons issued by the lower court. BJP worker Mahesh Srishrimal had filed this case of criminal defamation while filing a complaint against Rahul Gandhi in the Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate's court. If he does not get relief from the Bombay High Court, now Rahul Gandhi will have to face defamation proceedings in the lower court.
The complainant had alleged that Rahul Gandhi, while giving a speech at a rally in Rajasthan in September 2018, had used words like 'choron ke sardar' and 'commander-in-thief' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this case, after summons were issued from the lower court, Rahul Gandhi had approached the High Court. According to the news of Live Law, on behalf of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, his lawyer Sudeep Pasbola had argued in the court that the complaint filed by the BJP worker is not worthy of hearing. He said that since Rahul Gandhi had not named any party or any individual, there is clearly no individual or group aggrieved who has the right to prosecute.
Advocate Pasbola said merely implying that the statement applies to particular party workers does not make out a case of criminal defamation. However, the single bench of High Court judge Justice Nitin Borkar rejected the arguments of Rahul Gandhi's lawyer and said that being a registered national political party, BJP is definitely a recognizable organization. Earlier, the court had reserved its order in this case.