Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will be present at Mazgaon court at 11 a.m. on Thursday for the hearing in a criminal defamation case filed against him and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
The complainant, advocate Dhrutiman Joshi, is a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker. He alleged that Mr. Gandhi linked the RSS with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh while speaking to a reporter outside the Parliament. Mr. Gandhi had allegedly said, “Anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party], against the ideology of the RSS is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed.” Mr. Yechury also allegedly made a statement that it was the RSS ideology and RSS men who had killed Lankesh.
Mr. Joshi told The Hindu , “Mr. Gandhi is expected to be in court tomorrow.” He said, “The statement made by the accused is defamatory in the eyes of the public. It is a definitive move by the accused without citing proof to tarnish the image of RSS”.
Earlier, the text of the statements was submitted to the court. The Byculla police is investigating the case lodged under Section 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in September 2017. On February 21, metropolitan magistrate P.K. Deshpande recorded, “Upon perusal of the material placed before the court, I find the statements defamatory in nature. Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Yechury had no right to make such statements without verifying facts. No investigating agency can conclude that RSS or its followers were involved in the alleged murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh. I find sufficient grounds to proceed against them for offence punishable under Section 500 of IPC.”
