RSS Defamation Case: Rahul Gandhi asked to appear before court on June 12

A Bhiwandi court on Wednesday asked Congress president Rahul Gandhi to personally appear before it on June 12 to record statement in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) defamation case.

While hearing the arguments on Rahul’s application, the court sought a detailed recording of evidence instead of a ‘summary trial’ and adjourned the matter till June 12.

While the trial in such cases are normally held summarily, Gandhi had filed an application seeking a ‘summons trial’ on April 2018.

“A summary trial is short and will be completed with just submitting the written arguments. We have sought for a summons trial which would go into the in-depth recording of the evidence,” Rahul Gandhi’s lawyer Narayan Iyer said.

“The case relates to historical facts and hence, we need to rely on several documents and would like to record the evidence of experts,” Iyer added.

What is the RSS defemation case?

In 2014, Rajesh Kunte, an RSS leader from Maharashtra’s Thane had filed a criminal defamation case against the Congress president for accusing the RSS of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

On March 6, 2014, Gandhi had allegedly said that “the RSS people had killed (Mahatma) Gandhi” at an election rally in Bhiwandi.

Earlier, the Congress president had moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the case.

The apex court rejected his plea and said that he would have to face the trial if he did not express regret for his remark. The Congress leader declined to accept the suggestion and expressed willingness to face the trial.

(With inputs from agencies)