Defamation case: Rahul likely to get charged

A Bhiwandi court is likely to frame charges against Congress president Rahul Gandhi when he appears before it on Tuesday, in connection with a defamation case filed against him by an activist for alleging that the RSS was behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Rahul will appear before a Sessions court at Bhiwandi in the neighbouring Thane district, at 11 am.

The charges were to have been framed by the court against Rahul a long ago. But, the court had not been able to do so, owing to his non-appearances in the court. “We expect the court to frame the charges against Rahul Gandhi tomorrow,” sources close to the complainant said.

The Bhiwandi court has since 2014 been hearing a criminal complaint filed by Rajesh Kunte, who is the secretary RSS’ Bhiwandi unit, against Rahul for the statement made by the latter at an election on  May 6 2014. At that rally, Rahul had said: “RSS ke logon ne Gandhiji ko goli maari”.

Rahul — who had in September 2016 withdrawn his petition before the Supreme Court seeking the dismissal of a defamation case filed Kunte and told the apex court that he ready to tried on charges of defaming the RSS —  had earlier appeared before the court of Judge Tushar Waze at Bhiwandi on January 30, 2017. Owing to his preoccupation with his political activites, Rahul did not make it to the court on the subsequent dates.

At the hearing held on November 16, 2016, the Bhiwandi court had granted bail to Rahul in the defamation case on the basis of surety given by former Union Minister Shivraj Patil. 

After attending the hearing at the Bhiwandi court, Rahul will travel to Mumbai where he will interact with Congress’ booth-level workers at an event to be held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre at Goregaon in north Mumbai. 

At the function, Rahul will launch ‘Project Shakti’, a national initiative undertaken by the Congress to facilitate the party leadership establish direct communication with the grassroots workers across the country.

“Under this project,  party workers will be enrolled using their basic details and confirming that those enrolling are actually Congressmen. These filtered people will then need to send an SMS on a contact number which will be provided to them by the party officials,” Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said.

“The project will enable the ground-level workers to share their ideas and views with the central leadership of the party which will boost their morale ensuring a proper flow of communication internally,” Nirupam said.

Tuesday’s will be Rahul’s first public engagement in Mumbai after taking over as Congress President in December 2017.

During his visit to Mumbai, Rahul is also likely to meet NCP President Sharad Pawar.