Notwithstanding a stay granted by the Supreme Court on the defamation case proceedings against him, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday appeared before a court at Bhiwandi in the neighbouring Thane district for his allegation that the RSS was being behind Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
During his visit to the powerloom town of Bhiwandi, Rahul made a surprise appearance before the court of Magistrate D. P. Kale and spent 15 minutes there. There was no hearing as such. The Magistrate posted the next hearing of the case for September 30. The Bhiwandi court is hearing a defamation case filed against him by a local RSS worker.
Talking to media persons after his appearance before the court, Rahul said:”I had made a commitment that I would come and I am fulfilling that. I am here because I respect the judiciary”.
Reiterating the same through a couple of tweets put out on his official twitter handle, the Congress vice president said:”The fight which Gandhi ji fought is our fight. We will fight that and we will win”
Rahul, who arrived in Mumbai on Friday en route to Bengaluru, drove to Bhiwandi, located 37 km away from the city.
On Thursday, the apex court had stayed the ongoing defamation case proceedings against Rahul and exempted him from making personal appearance in the Bhiwandi court. However, the Congress vice president made it a point to attend the court, saying that he had made a commitment to that effect.
The Bhiwandi court is hearing a criminal filed by one Rajesh Kunte, alleging that Rahul had at an election rally in Thane district said last year that an RSS worker killed Mahatma Gandhi.
Kunte is secretary of the RSS’ Bhiwandi unit. After he lodged the complaint, the local magistrate issued notice to Rahul for his appearance.
The Supreme Court had on Thursday stayed the proceedings against him in the criminal defamation case filed by Kunte in the Bhiwandi court.