Rahul Gandhi landed in Mumbai on Thursday morning. (ANI)Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday pleaded not guilty before a Mumbai local court in connection with a defamation case filed by an RSS worker against him for allegedly linking journalist Gauri Lankesh’s killing with the organisation. Gandhi who landed in Mumbai on Thursday morning was accompanied by Mallikarjun Kharge and Milind Deora.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury who is also named in the case appeared before the court today.
In 2017, RSS Swayam Sevak, Dhrutiman Joshi had filed a defamation case against Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury for ‘defaming the RSS’ following the murder of Lankesh in Bengaluru. Joshi had also made the Congress, its former president Sonia Gandhi and the CPI(M) as a party to his complaint.
The Mazgaon metropolitan magistrate’s court, in February, issued summons to Rahul and Yechury. It, however, dismissed the complaint against Sonia Gandhi and the CPI(M), saying a party cannot be held liable for comments made by individuals.
#WATCH Congress supporters gather outside Mumbai court where Rahul Gandhi has arrived in connection with a defamation case filed against him in 2017 for allegedly linking Gauri Lankesh’s murder with “BJP-RSS ideology”. He was accompanied by Mallikarjun Kharge & Milind Deora. pic.twitter.com/FtF5doIcgD
— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2019
Joshi alleged that within 24 hours of Lankesh’s death, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that “anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, against the ideology of the RSS, is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed.” The complaint also alleged that Yechury stated that it was the RSS’ ideology and RSS people who killed the journalist who was known for trenchant criticism of right-wing politics.
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“Statements made by the accused and the respective political parties are in utmost sense defamatory and belittle the RSS in the eyes of the common public. There was a definite move by the accused to tarnish the image of the RSS, without citing any proof,” Joshi alleged in his complaint. “For a mere political score, the accused had unnecessarily dragged the name of RSS and it in a move to rake up negative sentiments in the minds of the people against the RSS,” it read.
Rahul Gandhi is facing another defamation case at Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district, filed by a local RSS worker, for allegedly blaming the Sangh for Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
