RSS defamation case: An enormous relief for Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as a court docket in Maharashtra’s Thane district granted a permanent exemption to him from showing earlier than it in a defamation case initiated towards him by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary Rajesh Kunte. The Magistrate will now start with recording of proof in the case from June 3 in the defamation swimsuit filed by native RSS employee.
The defamation case was initiated by Kunte after Rahul Gandhi, in one in all his speeches earlier than the 2014 elections, had said that the RSS was accountable for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. The comment was made in Bhiwandi in the Thane district of Maharashtra.
Permanent exemption from appearance
Bhiwandi First Class Judicial Magistrate Laxmikant C Wadikar who heard Gandhi’s software filed by his counsel Narayan Iyer noticed that the Congress chief deserves a permanent exemption. “Accused Rahul Rajiv Gandhi is hereby exempted from appearance in the court till the further order passed by the court subject to following conditions,” reads the order, a duplicate of which was accessed by PTI. “Accused to undertake that his duly designated advocate punctually and regularly appears before court on each and every scheduled date and conduct the trial in absence of accused,” says one of many circumstances. “Accused to remain present in court as and when directed,” reads one other.
What is RSS defamation case
Kunte had in 2014 filed a non-public grievance earlier than the Bhiwandi Justice of the Peace’s court docket after watching Gandhi’s speech the place he allegedly accused the RSS of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Kunte claimed this assertion slandered the fame of the RSS. Proceedings in the case have been ongoing earlier than the judicial Justice of the Peace of Bhiwandi since 2014. Gandhi had appeared earlier than the court docket in June 2018 and pleaded not responsible.
Kunte opposed exemption
Rahul Gandhi, who was lately disqualified as an MP after his conviction by a Surat court docket in a defamation case, had final yr sought exemption from appearance in the Bhiwandi court docket on the grounds that he was a Delhi resident and a Lok Sabha member who needed to go to his constituency (Wayanad), attend occasion work and journey quite a bit.
Gandhi had requested that at any time when required, he be allowed to be represented by his lawyer in the listening to. Kunte lately argued that since Gandhi is not a parliamentarian, he shouldn’t be given an exemption in the matter. The Surat court docket had on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to 2 years in jail in a 2019 prison defamation case filed towards him over his “why all thieves have Modi surname” remarks. The court docket additionally granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to permit him to attraction in the next court docket. The subsequent day, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.
(With PTI inputs)
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