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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 19 July 2025

Rahul court date today

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will arrive here tomorrow to appear in a lower court in connection with a defamation case filed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) against him.

A STAFF REPORTER Published 29.09.16, 12:00 AM
Rahul Gandhi

Guwahati, Sept. 28: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will arrive here tomorrow to appear in a lower court in connection with a defamation case filed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) against him.

Sources told The Telegraph that Rahul will appear before the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Kamrup (metro), at 10.30am tomorrow as an accused in a criminal defamation case filed by the RSS for alleging before the media in New Delhi that its workers stopped him from entering Barpeta Xatra in lower Assam in December last year. The case was lodged by RSS cadre Anjan Bora.

On August 6, the CJM, Kamrup (metro), Sanjay Hazarika, summoned Rahul after examining the evidence on record and six witnesses, besides the complainant, to face trial under Section 500 of the IPC, which carries imprisonment of up to two years.

Advocate Bijon Mahajan, who will appear before the court on behalf of the complainant, told this correspondent this evening that three options were open for Rahul after the court summoned him.

"The first option is to appear personally before the court as an accused. The second is to seek more time to appear before the court in case Rahul is preoccupied. Thirdly, he can challenged the summons of the CJM before Gauhati High Court. But the third option has a limitation as it is a watertight case since Rahul openly blamed the RSS before the media," Mahajan said.

The Congress has engaged senior advocate Nilay Dutta to fight the case on Rahul's behalf. Assam PCC chief Ripun Bora, former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and other top party leaders will accompany Rahul during his hearing. After the court appearance, he will address a party meeting at Rajiv Bhawan to encourage party leaders and workers to intensify the campaign against the BJP's false promises to the people.

Cong stand

In filing the defamation case, the Congress sees a desperate RSS strategy to restrain Rahul from ceaselessly portraying its philosophy as narrow and bigoted.

Congress leaders asserted that he was not going to be "cowed down" by these intimidatory tactics and was ready to fight any case the RSS chose to file against him.

Though personal appearance is a must in criminal defamation, Rahul's aides claimed he would have anyway gone to attend the proceedings to send out a political message that he cannot be reined in through these tactics. They expressed surprise that a "criminal defamation case" was filed in this "small matter".

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SANJAY K. JHA IN NEW DELHI

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