Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to appear in an MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur. On June 26, the court directed Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on July 2 in a defamation case filed against him for alleged objectionable remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The defamation case against Rahul Gandhi was filed in 2018 by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra over the Congress leader’s alleged objectionable remarks about Amit Shah. Earlier this year, Gandhi interrupted his “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” in Amethi to attend a court session on February 20, where he was subsequently granted bail.

Defamation suits galore

Rahul Gandhi has faced multiple defamation cases across India. These cases have largely been filed by the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members, stemming from various statements he has made against political figures and organisations. Broadly his cases are for making alleged defamatory allegations against the BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, or the RSS.

Remarks against VD Savarkar

There are two such cases — in Pune and Thane each. In April 2023, Satyaki Savarkar, the grandnephew of VD Savarkar, filed a defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi. Satyaki accused Rahul of making false and malicious statements about Savarkar during a trip to the UK in March 2023. Rahul allegedly claimed that Savarkar wrote about beating up a Muslim man with his friends, which Satyaki contested as untrue.

The Thane case stems from a complaint lodged by Vandana Dongre, a Shiv Sena functionary, in November 2022 against Rahul for his remarks suggesting that Savarkar had written mercy petitions to the British out of fear, thus betraying Indian freedom fighters.

Remarks against the Modi surname

At least three cases — in Surat, Ranchi and Patna — are underway over his comments on Modi surname during an election rally in 2019.

Rahul Gandhi made the comment at a rally in Karnataka in 2019, alleging that all thieves share the Modi surname. The comment led to a defamation case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. He was found guilty in the case in a lower court. The Gujarat High Court declined to stay Rahul’s conviction but the Supreme Court last year suspended the execution of the sentence.

Following the same 2019 comment, Pradip Modi, an advocate, filed a suit in Ranchi. Rahul’s appearance has been exempted by the Jharkhand High Court pending further hearings.

Sushil Modi, the senior BJP leader who passed away in May this year, filed a defamation suit in April 2019 in Patna over the same Modi surname remark.

Remarks against Amit Shah

At least two cases were filed in Ahmedabad against Rahul Gandhi for defaming Shah. In May 2019, BJP member Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt filed a complaint against Rahul for calling Amit Shah a “murder accused” at a rally.

A second case in Ahmedabad involved accusations of money laundering linked to Shah during the 2016 demonetisation, filed by the Ahmedabad District Co-Operative Bank and its chairperson Ajay Patel.

Remarks against RSS

Multiple cases were filed against Rahul Gandhi over his controversial comments about the RSS. These cases are in Haridwar in Uttarakhand, Bhiwandi in Rajasthan, Mumbai and Guwahati.

Following Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2023, where he described the RSS as the “21st century Kauravas,” Kamal Bhadoria, an RSS volunteer, filed a defamation complaint in Haridwar.

In 2014, RSS worker Rajesh Kunte filed a complaint over Rahul’s statement linking the RSS to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. This case is ongoing, with evidence currently being recorded.

In Mumbai, RSS worker Dhrutiman Joshi filed a case in 2018 against Rahul and CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury for allegedly linking the RSS to journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder. Another case was filed in Mumbai by BJP leader Mahesh Shrishrimal in 2018 over Rahul’s comments on the Rafale deal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2016, RSS worker Anjan Kumar Bora filed a suit against Rahul for claiming that RSS workers prevented him from entering a monastery in Barpeta, Assam.

Rahul Gandhi’s statements have sparked numerous legal challenges for him. The outcomes of these cases may not impact his political career but these cases remain talking points in India’s broader political landscape.

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UP court hears 2018-defamation case against Rahul Gandhi today, a look at such cases