The Supreme Court has paused defamation proceedings against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a Jharkhand court over remarks against Union Minister Amit Shah. The case dates back to 2018 when Mr Gandhi had used allegedly derogatory remarks against Mr Shah, the then BJP chief.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also issued notices to the Jharkhand government and BJP worker Naveen Jha, the complainant. They have been asked to submit their replies within four weeks.
Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Mr Gandhi, cited past judgments that said only the aggrieved person can file a criminal defamation complaint. He argued that the complaint cannot be filed by a proxy third party.
The matter will be taken up against six weeks.
The top court passed the interim order while hearing Mr Gandhi's petition to quash the defamation case being heard by an MP/MLA court in Jharkhand's Chaibasa.
The lower court had issued a non-bailable warrant against the Congress leader in February last year. Mr Gandhi had sought the Jharkhand High Court to quash the case back then, but the court refused to interfere.
The court had also asked Mr Gandhi to appear physically before it last year. His request for an exemption was turned down. The Congress leader later moved the high court and obtained a stay order on further actions against him in the lower court.
The magisterial court had found merit in the case after recording the statements of witnesses and asked Mr Gandhi to appear for trial in 2023. The high court had later stayed the magistrate's notice and ordered that "no coercive steps" be taken against the Congress leader.
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