The Supreme Court has granted relief to Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi by staying the trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed against him. The case was based on his alleged remarks at the AICC Plenary Sessions in March 2018, where he reportedly called BJP members “liars” and “drunk with power” and referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as a “murder-accused.” A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued an interim order while hearing Gandhi’s Special Leave Petition challenging the Jharkhand High Court’s decision to dismiss his plea seeking to quash the defamation case filed by BJP worker Navin Jha.
The High Court had previously ruled that a prima facie case under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC was made out against Gandhi for his remarks about the BJP leadership. The court observed that Gandhi’s statements suggested that BJP leaders were power-hungry and dishonest and that party workers would accept a murder-accused as their leader, which it deemed defamatory. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Gandhi, argued that only the aggrieved person could file a criminal defamation case, and it could not be pursued by a third party on behalf of someone else. However, the High Court maintained that the statements were defamatory and justified the continuation of the case.
The Jharkhand High Court also examined the legal provisions under Section 398 of the CrPC, which allows the High Court or Sessions Judge to direct further inquiry into a complaint dismissed under Section 203. The court found no procedural irregularities in the lower court’s decision and upheld the defamation charges against Gandhi. Despite the High Court’s ruling, the Supreme Court’s stay order has temporarily halted the proceedings, providing Gandhi with significant legal relief.
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