Live
- Curtailing Governor's power in VCs appointments not vengeful: Karnataka Home Minister
- South Sudan's peace monitors approve two-year extension of transitional period
- Kiran Rao on ‘Laapataa Ladies’ releasing in Japan: Feels like a full-circle moment
- Jacqueline Fernandez celebrates birthday in style at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea
- Relationship is beyond money, fame, and luxury
- Tax refund crosses Rs 2 lakh crore mark in FY25
- Jani Master Booked Under POCSO Act; Victim to Receive Police Protection
- Not thinking about outcome, says Shanto
- Pant braces for Test return after 632 days
- India looks to spin a new story
Just In
Defamation case: Gujarat court reissues summons to Rahul for remark against Amit Shah
Last week Gandhi had appeared in courts in Mumbai and Patna in connection with two cases of alleged defamatory remarks against the RSS and Sushil Kumar Modi respectively.
AHMEDABAD: A court here issued fresh summons to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday directing him to appear on August 9 in a criminal defamation suit filed against him by a local BJP leader for allegedly calling Union Home Minister Amit Shah a "murder accused".
Additional chief metropolitan magistrate D S Dabhi re-issued the summons after the one issued on May 1, which was to be served through Lok Sabha Speaker as Gandhi is a Member of Parliament, was returned.
The Speaker returned the summons saying he has no locus standi in the matter, the complainant's lawyer Prakash Patel said.
The fresh summons asking Gandhi to appear on August 9 will now be served directly to the Congress leader at his residence in New Delhi.
The court earlier held that prima facie there was a case of criminal defamation against Gandhi under Indian Penal Code Section (IPC) section 500.
Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt, a local BJP corporator, alleged that Gandhi made the objectionable comments at an election rally in Jabalpur on April 23.
Brahmbhatt contended that Gandhi's remark was defamatory as Shah was acquitted by a CBI court in 2015 in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.
Neither the high court nor the Supreme Court entertained the challenge to Shah's acquittal, he said.
"Gandhi (thus) committed an offence of defamation as per Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC," he said.
The CBI court's January 2, 2015 order acquitting Shah got wide publicity and was well known "in all political circles including that of the Congress", the complaint said.
After Gandhi's remark at the rally, Shah hit back at him, pointing out that he had been acquitted in the case, and questioned Congress president's "legal knowledge".
In 2015, a special court discharged Shah in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh and Tulsiram Prajapati encounter cases, holding no case existed against him and that he had been implicated for political reasons.
Earlier, another magistrate's court here also issued summons to Gandhi and Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a criminal defamation suit filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank and its chairman.
Amit Shah is a director of the bank.
The matter will come up for hearing on July 12 when Gandhi is likely to appear.
The suit alleged that the Congress leaders falsely claimed the bank was involved in a scam to swap Rs 750 crore in scrapped notes with valid currency within five days of demonetisation in 2016.
Last week Gandhi had appeared in courts in Mumbai and Patna in connection with two cases of alleged defamatory remarks against the RSS and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi respectively.
© 2024 Hyderabad Media House Limited/The Hans India. All rights reserved. Powered by hocalwire.com