The bench also issued a notice on Rahul Gandhi's special leave petition challenging the Jharkhand High Court judgment which dismissed his plea to quash the case.
In what comes as a relief for Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court of India has stayed the trial court proceedings against the Congress MP. A defamation case had been filed against the Leader of the Opposition for his remarks against the Bharatiya Janata Party and Home Minister Amit Shah.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The bench also issued a notice on Rahul Gandhi's special leave petition challenging the Jharkhand High Court judgment which dismissed his plea to quash the case.
BJP Leader Navin Jha has filed a complaint against Gandhi for his "defamatory remarks" against Amit Shah and the BJP. The Congress MP was quoted as calling BJP members "liars" and "drunk with power". Gandhi also reportedly referred to Shah as a "murder-accused."
Appearing for Gandhi, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that there were several judgements which showed that only the aggrieved person can file a criminal defamation complaint. Noting the the complaint was filed by Jha and not then BJP national president Amit Shah, he added that such a complaint cannot be filed by a proxy party.
The top court has granted four weeks time to Navin Jha and Jharkhand government to respond to the matter.
What Is The Case?
In 2019, BJP worker Navin Jha filed a case against Rahul Gandhi for referring to Amit Shah as a "murder accused" and calling BJP members "liars" and "drunk on power". These remarks were allegedly made by Gandhi ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
Gandhi challenged this case at the Jharkhand High Court, which rejected his petition to quash the defamation case.
Earlier in 2023, the Supreme Court stayed Gandhi's conviction in a defamation case filed against him over the remark "why all thieves have Modi surname".
This conviction had resulted in his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP. However, after the matter was stayed by the top court, Gandhi returned to the parliament to represent Wayanad. The apex court also reprimanded the Gujarat High Court for its "lac of reasons" for punishment.