Rahul Gandhi on Friday appeared before a Bhiwandi court in a defamation case for allegedly blaming RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The congress vice-president will kept his date with the trial court even after the Supreme Court exempted him from personal appearance in the case. The top court had also stayed the criminal proceedings against Rahul in the case on Thursday.
The Congress vice president presented himself before Magistrate D P Kale in line with the commitment given by his counsel on March 30. The court posted the case for September 30.
Rahul, who spent less than 15 minutes in court, told reporters that he had come to honour the commitment given to the court.
We respect the judiciary, that is why I am here. I had made a commitment to the court. I am here to fulfill that commitment. : Rahul Gandhi
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 8, 2015
The fight which Gandhi ji fought is our fight. We will fight that and we will win: Rahul Gandhi
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) May 8, 2015
“There shall be stay of further proceedings in a case pending before the trial court till the next date of hearing,” a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and P C Pant has said. The case against Gandhi is pending before a magisterial court in Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra.
The apex court had also issued notices to the Centre and an RSS activist who had filed the complaint seeking their reply within four weeks and posted the matter for hearing on July 8. The bench tagged Rahul’s petition in which he has also challenged the constitutional validity of the panel provisions dealing with criminal defamation along with that of politicians of rival parities, BJP’s Subramanian Swamy and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
(With Agency Inputs)