AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday appeared before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup in Guwahati over a defamation case even as the court granted relief to Gandhi against a PR bond of Rs 50,000.
“Rahul Gandhi appeared before the court around 10.30 am and we have sought relief under PR bond. The court granted the relief to him and the petitioner also did not oppose the relief,” said advocate Anshuman Bora, who represented Gandhi in the court on Thursday.
He said that the court has fixed November 5 as next date for hearing regarding the case and it is not mandatory for Gandhi to appear before the court on the next hearing. On the next hearing, the court will explain to Gandhi his offence.
An RSS volunteer had slapped the defamation suit against Gandhi after Gandhi accused the RSS of preventing him from entering the historical Barpeta Satra on December 12 last year. Gandhi told media in New Delhi that RSS had incited some women to prevent him from entering the Vaishnavite temple where he was scheduled to visit on December 12.
The petitioner, Anjan Bora, on the other hand said that Rahul Gandhi did not enter the Satra on his own and instead directly went to participate on a road show organised by the Congress the same day. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi had tarnished the image of the RSS.
The court after examining several witnesses observed that ‘the statement of Rahul Gandhi so published in dailies as well as in media appears to be defamatory in nature and therefore, the complainant prima facie fulfils the ingredients of Section 499 IPC. And accordingly I find sufficient material to proceed against Rahul Gandhi to face trial under Section 500 IPC’. The court had also asked the Gandhi scion to appear in the court on September 29.
After the appearance in the court on Thursday, Gandhi later addressed a gathering of party workers just outside the court and slammed the RSS for trying to obstruct his 30-days rally for the farmers in UP. “They (BJP) want to disrupt my 30-days rally for the farmers in UP.
