The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily stayed the trial against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case for remarks in which he referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “choron ke sardar” or “leader of thieves”, Live Law reported.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the complainant seeking their responses within four weeks, The Hindu reported.
On September 8, the Bombay High Court refused to quash the case against Gandhi, after which he moved the Supreme Court.
The complaint, filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, pertains to a speech made by Gandhi in September 2018 while speaking about the Rafale fighter jet deal. During a rally in Rajasthan, Gandhi referred to Modi as “choron ke sardar”.
The complainant contended that Gandhi’s remarks were directed at Modi and, by extension, at the BJP and its members, lowering their reputation.
He argued that by referring to Modi, a BJP member, as “choron ke sardar”, Gandhi had portrayed BJP members as “thieves”, giving party workers the right to initiate defamation proceedings.
Gandhi had challenged the maintainability of the complaint and moved the High Court, arguing that the remarks did not name any political party or its members.
However, the court had rejected the argument, holding that the BJP, being a registered national political...