On Monday, the Supreme Court restrained further proceedings in a defamation complaint filed in 2018 against the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. The case has evolved from Gandhi’s comment where he said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was BJP president, is a ‘murder accused’. The defamation suit had been filed by BJP leader Navin Jha.
A bench of the Supreme Court of India led by Vikram Nath and co-judges Sandeep Mehta have responded to the appeal made by Gandhi. Gandhi is appealing against a February 2024 order when the Jharkhand High Court declined to dismiss the defamation case. In response to this appeal, the bench has allowed four weeks for the state and Jha to file responses. The Court also declared that the defamation proceedings in the trial court are to remain stayed by consent until further order.
Responding to the CBI’s reliance on paragraph 25 of the magisterial order, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi for Rahul Gandhi contended that the settled law in the defamation case need not file a complaint by the accused. He said that a proxy cannot institute a defamation lawsuit on behalf of another individual. According to him, seven judgments support this legal position. He also added that in order to pursue the case, the complainant has to be directly involved in the defamation.
On the other hand, BJP leader Navin Jha was represented by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, who prayed for ‘some more time to reply to the notice that has come from the Supreme Court. The case has received considerable attention because it has approached powerful political leaders. This legal battle now stays that way to join other proceedings, with the next hearing set after the filing of a response to this notice/suit from the subject of the case and other persons of interest.
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