Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he did not mean to accuse the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a whole of assassinating Mahatma Gandhi, reported The Times of India. The apex court was hearing a criminal defamation case filed by an activist associated with the right-wing organisation.
Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who is representing Gandhi in the case, told the court, "Rahul Gandhi never accused the RSS as [an] institution for the crime." Gandhi said the petitioner misinterpreted his statement, reported NDTV.
Responding to the Congress leader's affidavit, the apex court bench said, "Rahul Gandhi never blamed the RSS but blamed a person associated with the RSS." The court will hear the case next on September 1.
During a campaign before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi had said the RSS had assassinated Mohandas Gandhi. Following the remarks made in Maharashtra, an RSS worker had filed a case against him in court. The Congress leader had then moved the apex court seeking for the defamation case to be quashed. Earlier, he had declined to settle the matter and refused to apologise for his remarks. On July 19, the top court told Gandhi that he "can't make collective denunciations".
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