The Supreme Court has put a hold on defamation proceedings against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a Jharkhand court concerning remarks he made about Union Minister Amit Shah. The case originates from 2018, when Mr. Gandhi allegedly made derogatory comments about Mr. Shah, who was then the BJP president.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notices to the Jharkhand government and BJP worker Naveen Jha, the complainant, requesting their responses within four weeks.
Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Mr. Gandhi, referenced prior judgments stating that only the person directly affected can file a criminal defamation case. He argued that a third-party proxy cannot initiate such complaints.
The matter will be revisited in six weeks.
The interim order was issued by the Supreme Court in response to Mr. Gandhi’s petition seeking to dismiss the defamation case being heard by the MP/MLA court in Chaibasa, Jharkhand.
The lower court had previously issued a non-bailable warrant for the Congress leader in February last year. Mr. Gandhi had appealed to the Jharkhand High Court to quash the case, but the request was denied. Additionally, his plea for an exemption from physical appearance before the lower court was rejected.
