In significant relief for Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed trial-court proceedings against him in a criminal defamation case arising from his 2018 remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter jet deal.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Aparesh Kumar Singh passed the interim order staying the proceedings. The bench also issued notices to the Maharashtra government and the complainant in the case, MH Shrishrimal, with the notices made returnable in four weeks.
The case relates to remarks Gandhi made in 2018 — including the phrases “commander-in-thief” and “Choron Ke Sardar” — directed at the Prime Minister in the context of the Rafale deal. A criminal defamation complaint was filed against Gandhi over these remarks by MH Shrishrimal, and trial-court proceedings in the matter were underway.
Gandhi had moved the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court, on September 8, declined to quash the proceedings against him. With the High Court refusing to intervene, the trial-court case was set to continue — until the apex court’s interim order on Tuesday put the proceedings on hold.
The Supreme Court’s stay means that no further steps will be taken in the trial court against the Congress leader for now. Interim stays of this nature freeze the proceedings at the stage they have reached, and the trial court will not move forward with the case until the apex court passes further orders.
The bench’s decision to issue notices to both the Maharashtra government and the complainant indicates that the court intends to hear all sides before deciding the matter finally. The notices being returnable in four weeks sets the timeline for the next stage of the litigation, when the respondents will have the opportunity to present their case.
For Gandhi, the order brings a pause in a legal battle that has its roots in the politically charged Rafale controversy of 2018. The remarks at the heart of the case were made during the Congress party’s aggressive campaign against the government over the fighter jet deal, and the defamation complaint has kept the matter alive in the courts for years since.
The Supreme Court’s intervention now shifts the centre of gravity of the case to the apex court, where questions around the maintainability and merits of the proceedings against the Leader of Opposition will come under scrutiny. Legal observers will be watching how the matter unfolds when it returns before the bench after four weeks.
