The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday placed a month-long stay on a non-bailable warrant issued against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a 2018 defamation case about his remarks on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, PTI reported.
An MP-MLA court in Chaibasa had issued the warrant against the Wayanad MP in the case on February 27. Subsequently, the court had ordered Gandhi to appear before it physically on March 27.
The Congress leader had moved the Jharkhand High Court after the Chaibasa court had rejected his petition seeking an exemption from physically appearing in the case.
On Wednesday, the Jharkhand High Court stayed the warrant for 30 days.
Advocate Piyush Chitresh, representing Gandhi, said that there was no reason to issue a warrant against the Congress leader in haste, The New Indian Express reported.
“We argued before the court that warrant has been issued against Rahul Gandhi without any reason,” Chitresh said. “[He] should have been given an opportunity to put his points before the court,” the advocate added.
In 2018, Gandhi had allegedly made the remarks against Shah during a Congress convention.
BJP worker Pratap Katiyar had filed a petition against the Congress leader for his remarks before a magistrate court in Chaibasa.
Gandhi is facing three defamation cases in Jharkhand for his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. Two cases were filed against him in different courts in Ranchi, The New Indian Express reported. The third one was filed in Chaibasa.
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