HC quashes order allowing fresh documents against Rahul Gandhi in defamation case

In a relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Bombay High Court on Friday quashed a magistrate's order permitting an RSS worker to submit fresh and additional documents in a pending criminal defamation complaint.

RSS worker Rajesh Kunte had lodged a defamation complaint in 2014 before the Bhiwandi magistrate's court in Thane district, claiming the Congress MP had made false and defamatory statements in a speech to the effect that the right-wing outfit was responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

In 2023, the magistrate's court permitted Kunte to submit the transcript of Gandhi's speech, which was part of a petition the Congress leader had filed in 2014 seeking the quashing of summons issued to him.

Kunte contended that by including the transcript as part of his petition, Gandhi had "unambiguously owned up to the speech and its contents". Gandhi had then challenged the magistrate's order before the high court.

On Friday, a single bench of justice Prithviraj Chavan allowed Gandhi's petition. "The petition is allowed. Impugned order and consequent exhibition of documents are quashed and set aside. The magistrate court is directed to proceed with the trial regarding the exhibit in accordance with the observations made in the order," the court said.

Justice Chavan also directed the magistrate to deal with the trial expeditiously and asked both parties to cooperate.

The documents submitted by Kunte include parts of a petition filed by Gandhi in 2014, challenging the summons issued to him by the Bhiwandi court then. It includes a copy of the transcript of the alleged speech made by Gandhi from a CD containing the purported live telecast of the programme, which was annexed as an exhibit to the petition.

Gandhi, in his plea, claimed that in 2021, another bench of the high court had disallowed Kunte from submitting any fresh documents in the case. However, despite this, the magistrate permitted the submission of the documents as part of the complaint. The Congress leader claimed that the magistrate's order allowing Kunte to submit fresh documents at this stage was "completely illegal and prejudicial".