Mumbai: Court grants Rahul Gandhi permanent exemption from appearance in RSS defamation case

A Bhiwandi magistrate court has granted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi permanent exemption from appearance in a defamation complaint lodged against him by an RSS functionary for remarks in 2014 that the RSS was responsible for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

In an order the court has said that he is exempted from appearance in court till further orders upon certain conditions.

Know what the conditions are:

Gandhi would have to give an undertaking that his advocate would remain present regularly and punctually on every date and conduct the trial in his absence. The magistrate had however, directed that Gandhi would have to remain present before it as and when directed but it. Magistrate Laxmikant C. Wadikar has further mentioned that if there is breach of any of the conditions, the order would be automatically vacated without notice to him. 

In 2016, Gandhi had appeared before the court and pleaded “not guilty”. In a plea through advocate Narayan Iyer, Gandhi had sought the relief for exemption on the grounds that he is a resident of Delhi and a law abiding citizen. It was also argued that no purpose would be served by his attendance on every date and his absence would not affect the trial in any way. 

What did Rahul say?

During a public event in Bhiwandi in 2014, Rahul Gandhi had stated that the killers of Mahatma Gandhi are from the RSS. an RSS functionary Rajesh Kunte had approached the magistrate court with a private complaint for trying Gandhi for criminal defamation.