Overview
- Justice N. R. Borkar reserved judgment after hearing detailed submissions and extended the interim relief earlier granted to Rahul Gandhi.
- BJP member Mahesh Hukumchand Shrishrimal filed the complaint that led the Girgaon magistrate to issue process on August 28, 2019 over remarks allegedly made at a Rajasthan rally in September 2018.
- Gandhi’s counsel argued the case is barred by Section 199(2) of the CrPC and that no identifiable class was targeted, leaving the complainant without locus standi.
- Maharashtra Advocate General Milind Sathe opposed quashing, contending a party worker can be an aggrieved person if the remarks concern a definite group and that the case should not be thrown out at the threshold.
- In a separate 2018 defamation matter in Sultanpur, Gandhi appeared last week, and the court scheduled the next hearing for March 9 for his defence evidence.