Supreme Court agrees to examine Bombay high court's order refusing to quash 2019 summons to Rahul Gandhi in defamation case over his remarks against PM Modi.
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed criminal defamation proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged 2018 remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including calling him “commander-in-thief”.
The order was passed by a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh on a petition filed by Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, challenging the Bombay high court’s September 8 order refusing to quash the proceedings.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for Gandhi, told the court that the petitioner was seeking a stay of the proceedings, as they are not maintainable.
The bench issued notice to the Maharashtra government and the complainant, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Mahesh Shrishrimal and posted the matter after four weeks.
“In the meantime, further proceedings before the trial court shall remain stayed,” the court order said.
The case stems from a private complaint filed by Shrishrimal, alleging that Gandhi made defamatory remarks against PM Modi during a public rally in Rajasthan on September 20 that year, including the statement, “Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai”.
Shrishrimal, who sought action to initiate a case under criminal defamation (section 500) of the Indian Penal Code, also alleged that Gandhi, while commenting on a video posted on his personal “X” account (formerly Twitter) on September 24, 2018, referred to the prime minister as “Commander in Thief”. He argued that the remarks amounted to allegations of theft against Modi as well as BJP members and other Indian citizens associated with him.
The Girgaon magistrate court initiated proceedings against Gandhi in 2019, following which he approached the high court. His petition, filed in November 2021, denied the allegations and sought quashing of the proceedings.
Justice NR Borkar of the high court rejected Gandhi’s argument that the BJP was not an identifiable body. “On prima facie reading of the statement, describing the PM, who is a member of the BJP, as a “commander in thief”, cannot be said to be limited only to the senior leadership of the party. Whether the imputation was in substance and what impact it will have on members of the party will have to be considered at the stage of trial,” the judge said while upholding the magisterial court order.
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