Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has declined to quash the criminal defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged “Commander-in-Thief” remark targeting Prime Minister Modi, rejecting his plea challenging the summons issued by a magistrate court, which he had argued was not maintainable.
Single Bench Rejects Rahul Gandhi’s Plea
Hearing the matter, Justice Nitin Borkar’s single bench rejected Rahul Gandhi’s argument, stating that the BJP is a registered national political party and therefore constitutes a clearly identifiable entity. Rahul Gandhi’s counsel, Sudeep Pasbola, had argued before the High Court that in the alleged X post, Gandhi had not named the BJP or any political party specifically.
Defence Argues No Identifiable Victim Exists
Pasbola contended that since no identifiable or specific group had been targeted, there was no clearly aggrieved individual or group, and therefore the complainant had no legal standing to pursue a criminal defamation case.
Court Says Comment’s Impact on Party Members to Be Examined During Trial
Responding to this, the court noted that the complainant claims to have been an active BJP member for two decades, and that the “Commander-in-Thief” remark aimed at the Prime Minister, who is a BJP member, cannot be considered limited only to the party’s senior leadership. The court stated that the actual meaning of the remark and its impact on party members would be examined during the course of the trial.
