The Jharkhand High Court has rejected Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s petition to quash proceedings against him in a trial court for his alleged defamatory remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, PTI reported.
The High Court rejected the plea on Wednesday and the order was made public on Friday.
Bharatiya Janata Party worker Naveen Jha had filed a complaint against the Congress leader for his remarks against Shah during a speech on March 18, 2018, Bar and Bench reported.
Gandhi had challenged an order of a magistrate in Ranchi that had directed him to appear before a court in connection with the case.
The High Court noted that Gandhi’s statement suggested that BJP leaders were intoxicated with power and were deceitful individuals.
“It further means that the party workers of Bhartiya Janata Party will accept such person/persons as their leader,” Justice Ambuj Nath noted, according to Bar and Bench.” This imputation is prima facie defamatory in nature.”
On February 20, a special court in Uttar Pradesh granted bail to Gandhi in a separate case about alleged defamatory remarks against Shah. The complaint in the case was filed by BJP worker Vijay Mishra, who objected to statements that the Congress MP made at a press conference in Bengaluru on May 8, 2018 during the Karnataka elections.
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