NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Tuesday halted ongoing proceedings before a Maharashtra trial court in a criminal defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding remarks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a 2018 political address. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh granted the interim relief while taking up Gandhi’s challenge against an earlier high court ruling.
The apex court issued notices to both the Maharashtra government and complainant M.H. Shrishrimal, requesting their formal replies within four weeks. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Raebareli parliamentarian, argued before the bench that previous Supreme Court precedents firmly established legal principles in such matters, making the ongoing lower court summons unsustainable under criminal law.
Gandhi moved the top court following a September 8 decision by the Bombay High Court, which declined to quash summons issued by a Girgaum magistrate in August 2019. The high court had rejected Gandhi’s plea seeking dismissal of the complaint, though it had temporarily deferred magistrate proceedings for six weeks to allow sufficient window for an appeal before the Supreme Court.
The underlying grievance stems from a September 20, 2018 speech delivered by Gandhi in Rajasthan, which the complainant alleged defamed the Prime Minister. Shrishrimal, a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, contended in his petition that critical comments aimed at Modi directly harmed his own standing as a party member and insulted affiliated citizens, prompting the prolonged judicial scrutiny now stayed by the apex bench.
