Supreme Court Stays Defamation Trial Against Rahul Gandhi

The Supreme Court on October 13 stayed trial-court proceedings in a criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while considering Gandhi’s challenge to a Bombay High Court ruling. The stay is interim and does not decide whether the remarks were defamatory. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh issued notice on Gandhi’s petition, seeking responses from the Maharashtra government and complainant Mahesh Shrishrimal within four weeks. The court ordered that further proceedings before the trial court remain stayed in the meantime. The matter is set for further consideration after four weeks. Gandhi had approached the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court on September 8 refused to quash the summons issued to him in 2019. The High Court dismissed his challenge to a magistrate’s order initiating proceedings on Shrishrimal’s complaint. It continued an earlier direction deferring the magistrate’s proceedings for six weeks, allowing Gandhi time to seek relief from the Supreme Court. The complaint stems from Gandhi’s remarks in 2018 during the controversy over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal.