Congress President Rahul Gandhi is appearing at a court in Bhiwandi today in a defamation case filed against him by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Rajesh Kunte in 2014. According to reports, Rahul arrived at Mumbai airport earlier this morning and has reached the court.
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Rahul, while addressing a rally at Bhiwandi in 2014, had stated that the RSS was behind the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. RSS worker Kunte had lodged a criminal defamation case against him after the incident. In September 2016, Rahul had withdrawn his petition in the Supreme Court challenging the trial after the apex court refused to interfere in the criminal proceedings against him ongoing before the Bhiwandi court.
He is expected to meet booth level party workers of Congress at Goregaon. During the last hearing of the case in April, the court had deferred framing charges to today’s date as Rahul was not present.
As per latest reports, the court has framed charges against Rahul Gandhi under IPC sections 499 and 500. Rahul Gandhi has reportedly pleaded ‘not guilty’ in the case. Meanwhile, the complainant in the case, Rajesh Kunte, has told the media that special treatments were meted out to the Gandhi scion in the court premises. He added that he was frisked before entering the courthouse but Rahul Gandhi and the people accompanying him were not. After framing charges and taking Rahul’s statement, the court has set the date of next hearing to August 10.