Supreme Court stays defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for remarks on Amit Shah

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the criminal defamation proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi booked for calling Union Home Minister and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah a murder accused..A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also sought the responses of Jharkhand government and the complainant to the plea filed by Gandhi seeking quashing of the case.During the hearing today, Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing on behalf of Gandhi, highlighted that the complaint was filed by a third party and the same is not permissible when it comes to the offence of defamation."If you are not the person aggrieved, how can you have a proxy filing of complaint?" Singhvi asked."Issue notice to Jharkhand and complainant. All proceedings in trial shall remain stayed till further orders," the Court ordered.The case arose after BJP leader Navin Jha filed a complaint against Gandhi, alleging that Gandhi delivered a speech on March 18, 2018 criticizing the BJP and accusing Shah of being involved in murder..Initially, a magistrate court at Ranchi dismissed Jha's complaint prompting him to file a revision petition before the Judicial Commissioner in Ranchi.The judicial commissioner in Ranchi on September 15, 2018 overturned the order that dismissed the complaint petition and sent it back to the magistrate court.The judicial commissioner directed the magistrate to review the evidence on record again and issue a fresh order regarding the determination of prima facie material to proceed with the matter.Thereafter, the magistrate passed a fresh order on November 28, 2018 and concluded that there was sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case against Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which penalises defamation. Consequently, the magistrate issued a summons for Gandhi's appearance.Gandhi then moved the High Court challenging the Ranchi judicial commissioner's order of September 15, 2018.Single-judge Justice Ambuj Nath noted that Gandhi had said that BJP leaders are liars who are drunk with power and that BJP workers will accept a person accused of murder as their president.These statements by Gandhi are prima facie defamatory in nature under Section 499 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the High Court said..It observed that, on the face of it, the statement suggested that Gandhi implied that the leadership of the BJP was intoxicated with power and consisted of deceitful individuals."It further means that the party workers of Bhartiya Janata Party will accept such person/persons as their leader. This imputation is prima facie defamatory in nature," the Court added.The Court also adverted to Explanation 2 to Section 499 of IPC as per which imputations against a company, association or collection of persons would fall within the scope of defamation. Hence, it dismissed Gandhi's plea. .[Read High Order]