Rahul Gandhi appeared at a court in Mumbai on Thursday morning for a defamation case hearing, filed against him by a Mumbai-based lawyer and RSS worker.
The court had issued summons against Rahul Gandhi and CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury for their alleged defamatory comments linking journalist Gauri Lankesh’s killing with the “BJP-RSS ideology”.
Lankesh was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru in September 2017, allegedly by members of a right-wing extremist group.
In his complaint, lawyer Dhrutiman Joshi alleged that within 24 hours of her death, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that “anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, against the ideology of the RSS, is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed.” The complaint also alleged that Yechury stated that it was the RSS’ ideology and RSS people who killed the journalist who was known for trenchant criticism of right-wing politics.
The court issued summons against Rahul Gandhi and Yechury but dismissed the complaint against Sonia Gandhi and the CPI(M), saying a party cannot be held liable for comments made by individuals.
Rahul Gandhi is facing another defamation case at Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district, filed by a local RSS worker, for allegedly blaming the Sangh for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Prasanta Patnaik