Rahul pleads not guilty, to face trial

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday pleaded “not guilty” of defaming the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),  even as a Bhiwandi court framed  charges against him in a defamation case filed against him by an activist for alleging that the RSS was behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

After reading out the charges being framed against him under sections 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the IPC, Principal Magistrate at the Bhiwandi court A I Sheikh asked Rahul if he pleaded “guilty” of the charges. “I plead not guilty,” the Congress president told the court.

Earlier, responding to a query from the Magistrate if he had received a copy of the charges against him, Rahul said: “Yes”.

After framing of charges against Rahul, the Bhiwandi scheduled the next hearing of the case for August 10, when the actual trial would begin.    

A person, if found guilty of defamation under section 499, faces simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both, under section 500 of IPC. 

Earlier, Rahul appeared before the Magistrate at 11.05 am amid heavy security deployed in and around the court in the powerloom town of Bhiwandi in Thane district.

Rahul, who was accompanied by Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan and some other party leaders, was cheered enthusiastically by the Congress workers present in large numbers outside the court.

Rahul’s counsel Narayan Iyer and the complainant’s lawyer argued over the issue of the submissions made earlier by him in the Bombay High Court where he had submitted the transcript of his speech made during an election rally at Bhiwandi on May 6, 2014. The argument between the two sides on whether to take the matter on record in the trial court remained inconclusive.

Later, Rahul’s Iyer said that at the next hearing on August 10, the court would pass an order on whether or not certain documents, including the transcript of the video recording of Rahul’s speech submitted by the complainant, could be admitted as evidence.

Alluding to an application made by Rahul last month seeking a “summons trial”, his lawyer Iyer said: “A summary trial is short and will be completed by just submitting the written arguments. We have sought for a summons trial which would go into the in-depth recording of the evidence.....The case relates to historical facts and hence, we need to rely on several documents and would like to record the evidence of experts”.

Talking to media persons after the hearing, Rahul said: “They may file case and cases against me…I am not bothered….my ideological fight would continue…”.

Dubbing the Narendra Modi Government as “a Government for rich”, Rahul said:  “This is a Government for the rich. The media shows the bright side. The Prime Minister does not speak on the issue like unemployment and protection of farmers. He doesn't have answers to rising fuel prices. They keep putting cases on me. They can keep doing so; it doesn’t matter. This is my fight for ideology. We will fight them and win”.

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.