Rahul Gandhi appears at Mumbai Court in connection with RSS defamation case

Day after formally announcing his resignation as Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi will shortly appear before a Mumbai court in connection with a defamation case filed by an RSS member. The case dates back to 2017 when an RSS activist sued Gandhi for allegedly linking the organisation to the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh. Gandhi arrived at the Mumbai airport in the morning and left for the court in south Mumbai. He was accompanied by senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Milind Deora.

In February, RSS activist Dhrutiman Joshi had filed a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for defaming the RSS following the death of Gauri Lankesh. Later, the Mazgaon court had issued summons to Gandhi and Yechury for questioning in connection with the case. The court, had, however, dismissed the complaint against Sonia Gandhi and the CPI(M). Lankesh, a senior journalist was murdered at her residence in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.

In the complainant, Dhrutiman Joshi stated that Rahul Gandhi, within 24-hours of the murder of the journalist, criticised the RSS and alleged that "anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, against the ideology of the RSS is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed."

Rahul Gandhi is also 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.

Gandhi is also scheduled to attend other defamation hearings in Patna, Surat and Ahmedabad later this month.