FILE photo: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi, who was meant to appear in a Maharashtra court today, could not be there "because he is on leave even from Parliament for personal reasons," said his lawyer today, arguing successfully that the politician should be exempt from showing up in court till May 8.
Mr Gandhi has been accused of defamation for stating that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is to blame for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The RSS is the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP. Mr Gandhi's speech was made in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra in March last year, ahead of the national election which saw the Congress rudely punished by voters.
Mr Gandhi's lawyer assured the judge that the 44-year-old Vice President of the Congress party will appear at the next hearing on May 8. Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court rejected his request to throw out the defamation case against him which has been filed by an RSS worker.
Mr Gandhi has plunged his party into an embarrassing predicament by taking what spokespersons have described as "a leave of absence" during the crucial Budget Session of Parliament, when his party is leading opposition efforts to challenge a major economic reform championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi - making it easier for business to acquire farmland.
Twice, the Congress has said that Mr Gandhi has extended his absence, which, the party says, he is devoting to "introspection and contemplation."
Mr Gandhi, whose mother Sonia, as party president, is the only Congress leader senior to him, led the campaign for the Congress in last year's national election. The party accrued its worst-ever performance, winning just 44 constituencies.