A look at 12 defamation cases against Rahul Gandhi as he suffers setback in Modi surname matter
While declining to stay top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a criminal defamation case — filed against him by the BJP’s Surat West MLA Purnesh Modi for his Modi surname remarks at a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — the Gujarat High Court Friday said that “… as many as ten criminal cases are pending against the applicant”.
In his order, the high court judge, Justice Hemant Prachchhak, also said, “It is now need of the hour to have purity in politics. Representatives of people should be man of clear antecedent. It also appears from the record that after filing of the said complaint, other complaints came to be filed against the present accused, out of which one complaint was filed by the grandson of Vir Sawarkar in concerned Court of Puna when the accused used defamation utterances against Vir Sawarkar at Cambridge and another complaint was also filed in concerned Court of Lucknow.”
A look at several other criminal defamation cases against Rahul, which have been filed mostly by the BJP and RSS members in different parts of the country over the last several years:
1. Pune case over Savarkar remarks
Satyaki Savarkar, the grandnephew of V D Savarkar, filed a criminal defamation complaint against Rahul before a magistrate court in Pune on April 12, 2023, alleging that during his UK trip in March this year the Congress leader made false and malicious statements against Savarkar. Satyaki charged that at a London event Rahul said that Savarkar had written a book in which he stated that he along with his friends once beat up a Muslim man and that day they were delighted. Satyaki has argued that Savarkar did not write any such book.
2. Defamation case in Thane
A functionary of the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), Vandana Dongre, lodged a defamation complaint with the Thane Nagar police station in November 2022 against Rahul for his alleged derogatory remarks against Savarkar. The complainant referred to Rahul’s alleged remarks that Savarkar had written mercy petitions to the British “out of fear”, which “betrayed” the Indian freedom movement’s leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.
3. Defamation complaint in Haridwar
Days after Rahul’s conviction by a Surat magistrate court in March this year for criminal defamation over his Modi surname comment, a case was filed against him at the Haridwar CJM court for his alleged remark, made during his Bharat Jodo Yatra at Kurukshetra, describing the RSS as “21st century Kauravas”. This complaint was filed by Kamal Bhadoria, who claims to be an RSS volunteer. The court is currently conducting an inquiry by recording statements under the CrPC section 202, before the issuance of summons.
4. Criminal defamation case in Ranchi
Soon after Rahul made the Modi surname remarks in 2019, an advocate Pradip Modi filed a criminal defamation suit against him before a CJM court in Ranchi. The Congress leader has been facing trial in the matter.
On July 4 this year, the Jharkhand High Court exempted Rahul from appearance before the trial court in this case. The high court also ordered that “no coercive steps shall be taken” against him until the next date of hearing before the trial court.
5. Sushil Modi’s defamation suit in Patna
Days after Rahul’s Modi surname remarks made on April 13, 2019, senior Bihar BJP leader and ex-deputy chief minister Sushil Modi filed a criminal defamation suit against him in the matter before the Patna Sadar CJM court. The case is now being tried by a special MP/MLA court and is at the stage of the examination of the accused.
6. Criminal defamation case in Ahmedabad
In May 2019, BJP member Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt filed a criminal defamation suit in an Ahmedabad magistrate court against Rahul for allegedly calling the then BJP president Amit Shah a “murder accused”. As per Brahmbhatt’s complaint, Rahul had made the “derogatory remarks” against Shah at a rally in Jabalpur on April 23 in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The trial in this case has however been stayed by a high court’s order.
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7. Another defamation case in Ahmedabad
In April 2019, the Ahmedabad District Co-Operative (ADC) Bank and its chairperson Ajay Patel filed a criminal defamation suit in an Ahmedabad court against Rahul for allegedly defaming Amit Shah with the accusation of money laundering during the 2016 demonetisation, when Shah was a director in the ADC Bank.
8. Defamation case in Mumbai
BJP leader Mahesh Shrishrimal filed a defamation complaint case before a Girgaon magistrate court in Mumbai in 2018 against Rahul for levelling charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with alleged corruption in the Rafale deal. The trial in this case has been deferred as Rahul has moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the complaint.
9. Criminal defamation case in Bhiwandi
A Bhiwandi resident, Rajesh Kunte, who claims to be an RSS worker, had filed a defamation complaint against Rahul before a Bhiwandi civil and criminal court in Thane in 2014, taking objection to the Congress leader’s speech during a 2014 election rally, where the latter had purportedly said that Mahatma Gandhi was killed allegedly by persons from the RSS.
Kunte alleged that Rahul’s statement was made to harm the RSS’s reputation. Rahul moved the Bombay HC seeking quashing of the complaint, which refused to grant him relief. He then moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the IPC sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation). The apex court refused to interfere with the HC’s order, following which Rahul withdrew his plea. The case is now at the stage of recording of evidence before the Bhiwandi court.
10. Another defamation case in Mumbai
RSS worker Dhrutiman Joshi filed a criminal defamation case against Rahul and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury before a Sewri court in Mumbai in 2018 for their alleged bid to link the RSS with journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder case. He referred to Rahul’s purported statement made immediately after Lankesh’s assassination on September 5, 2017 that “anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, of the RSS, is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed”.
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11. Another defamation case in Ranchi
BJP worker Navin Jha filed a criminal defamation complaint before the CJM court in Ranchi in 2018 against Rahul for having allegedly made a derogatory statement against the BJP at an internal meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Rahul moved the Jharkhand HC pleading that the criminal proceedings in this matter be quashed. The case remains pending in the court.
12. Criminal defamation case in Guwahati
An RSS worker Anjan Kumar Bora filed a criminal defamation suit against Rahul before a CJM Kamrup court in Guwahati in 2016. During a visit to the area in December 2015, Rahul had alleged that the RSS workers did not let him enter a monastery in Barpeta, which the monastery officials had denied. In his defamation complaint, Bora accused Rahul of having allegedly made false statement to defame the RSS. The case has since been pending in the court.
First published on: 08-07-2023 at 15:46 IST in indianexpress.com
